Police officer among four arrested for ‘extorting cash’ from spaza shops

A co-ordinated response to the high incidence of extortion-related crime affecting businesses within the Stellenbosch area led to the arrest of four suspects on Sunday night.

They are a father and two sons, one of whom is a police constable, from Nyanga and a Somalian businessman.

They allegedly extorted money from more than 50 Somali and Ethiopian entrepreneurs in the Khayamandi and Stellenbosch area, said Western Cape police spokesperson Brig Novela Potelwa.

“With the assistance of the Somalian businessman, who is believed to have collected the specified amounts of money on stipulated dates within a month on behalf of the suspects, the alleged extortionists would receive substantial amounts of cash on a regular basis.”

Potelwa said the takedown operation was led by provincial serious violent crime detectives and executed in Bellville. Officials from crime intelligence, the drone unit, the National Prosecuting Authority, City of Cape Town security officials and the Financial Intelligence Centre assisted in the case.

Officials confiscated R120,000 in cash and several cellphones from the suspects.