Johannesburg - What might have gone down as one of the biggest casino hits in the country, has been averted by swift police action.
This resulted in a fierce shootout between the police and the small army of AK-47-wielding gangsters.
Armed with a number of firearms and travelling in at least two different cars, the 19 suspects were stopped before their plan went into full swing at Emperors Palace in Kempton Park on Sunday.
The robbers had no idea they were being watched and followed, and that the police had information about their plan when they arrived at the entertainment venue early on Sunday.
Police had put together a watertight operational plan, with officers strategically deployed in and around the venue.
The task team pounced on the gang at about 7am. A shootout broke out, and after the dust had settled, police counted at least 15 men in custody, with two of them under guard in hospital.
On Sunday night, four suspects were still at large, but 15 were in custody.
A five-year-old girl was slightly wounded on her head and hand, when she was hit by a stray bullet that apparently went through a hotel window.
SAPS spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said police had been tipped off about the planned heist. The police’s intelligence unit immediately sprang into action.
Dlamini described the operation as “very big”, with officers, including the specialised Tactical Response Team, called in from across Gauteng and deployed at strategic points in and around the casino, which is close to OR Tambo International Airport.
“Through a crime intelligence-led operation, police followed information that a gang of 19 men travelling in several vehicles were planning to rob the casino. During an observation, the police were involved in a shootout with suspects travelling in a Mazda double-cab bakkie at the main entrance of the casino,” Dlamini said.
“Two were shot and wounded and three others were arrested. An AK-47 assault rifle was found inside their bakkie.”
Dlamini said police officers also confronted five other suspects travelling in a Toyota Fortuner to the casino in Jones Road.
“They were arrested, and five firearms, two AK-47 assault rifles, two 9mm pistols and a revolver were recovered. While continuing with a search for other suspects, two 9mm pistols were found in the toilets inside the casino. Five other suspects were arrested on the premises, two at the gate, and others inside the premises,” he said.
The incident cost the casino resort almost a whole day of business while police officers combed the premises for more suspects and other clues. The hotel remained closed, with most parts cordoned off with police lines.
None of the police officers was injured in the shootout.
Dlamini said the police were working on an initial number of 19 suspects, and with 15 arrested, they were not sure if others had already been inside the hotel or had possibly escaped.
Casino spokeswoman Julie van Wyk said police had cordoned off the premises for their forensic investigation and told them they could start operating again from 3.30pm on Sunday.
The Star