Cigarette Truck Hijacked in PE

Source from:  Gareth Wilson WEEKEND POST REPORTER 11/17/2008

POLICE arrested two men in the Port Elizabeth township of Soweto-on-Sea early yesterday after they allegedly hijacked a truck transporting more than R800000 worth of cigarettes. The truck was hijacked in Commercial Road by five armed men who forced the driver off the road. Police spokesman Captain Rassie Erasmus said the men had taken the driver and his passenger hostage before driving off and throwing the two out of the truck shortly afterwards. "We were notified by them (the driver and his passenger) and activated the Rapid Response Unit which contacted the trucking company to activate its tracking device. "The guys then got the (satellite) co-ordinates from the company's control room and managed to trace the truck to New Brighton, where they found it abandoned." Police back-tracked the truck's previous stops and were led to a house in nearby Soweto-on-Sea. "They raided the house and found most of the stolen boxes stacked inside," Erasmus said. "They then searched the neighbouring houses and found the rest of the boxes." Each box contained 50 cartons of cigarettes, with a collective value of about R800000. Enditem