THEIR alleged cable-stealing mission ended abruptly when cops swooped on three men reportedly pulling copper cables from streetlights along the busy N3 freeway.
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Two suspects, aged 24 and 34, were arrested near Grey Avenue in Alberton, Ekurhuleni, on Thursday, 5 November.
Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman Chief Superintendent Kelebogile Thepa said officers from the Drug Enforcement Unit, Public Order Policing, CLU and K9 Unit were patrolling the freeway when they spotted three suspicious men pulling a rope attached to a streetlight.
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The officers approached the men, but the suspects allegedly took off on foot when they noticed the cops.
The third suspect managed to escape.
Thepa said officers searched the arrested suspects and allegedly found about 4m of copper cable, a side cutter and heavy-duty gloves.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects had allegedly accessed an underground drainage system beneath the freeway.
“They tied a rope to the copper cables connected to the streetlights and used it to physically pull the cables out of the poles,” said Thepa.
She said the two suspects were charged with damaging essential infrastructure and contravening the Immigration Act.
They were detained at Alberton Police Station. The search for the third suspect continues.
