Officers looking for a robbery suspect got a tip-off that led them to the Pine Road address on Wednesday morning September 27.
The suspect had allegedly snatched a man’s sunglasses and cellphone in Sussex Street two days earlier. But the officers found more than a pair of sunglasses and a cellphone at the house.
They seized flat-screen TVs, a laptop, clothing and other electronic equipment, all of which matched items reported stolen in two burglaries just a day earlier.
According to Woodstock police spokesman Sergeant Hilton Malila, the officers arrested seven suspects at the house for being in possession of stolen property, housebreaking and theft.
They also found credit cards, cellphones, cordless phones, electronic card-swipe machines, and passports.
Sergeant Malila said he could not confirm whether the men were part of a bigger crime syndicate.
One of the suspects has a store on the Cape Town station deck, where police found more electronic items, presumed to be stolen.
Four of the suspects are between 41 and 21 years of age. The ages of the juveniles are not known.
The suspects appeared in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Friday September 29 on charges related to robbery, possession of stolen property, housebreaking and theft.
Metrorail security officers have arrested five suspected cable thieves in the past two weeks. Two arrests happened between Cape Town and Woodstock, a well-known hot spot for vandals.
The team also demolished 34 informal structures and removed 27 vagrants in the same section.
Another suspect was arrested between Mutual and Langa stations after being found with 20m of multi-core cabling.
A hacksaw and other equipment were seized as evidence.
Two suspects from Bonteheuwel were arrested within Metrorail’s Paarden Island depot, both in the possession of internal carriage cabling and wiring.
Metrorail regional manager Richard Walker said: “The latter two arrests were encouraging in the light of a recent spike in on-board vandalism. Having to remove 60 to 70 carriages per month for rewiring negates our efforts to return more capacity to the system.”
He said the public could report any suspicious activity anonymously. A reward of up to R25 000 is payable for any information leading to a conviction.
