Alert police officers from Port Alfred’s K9 unit arrested three men suspected to be involved in stock theft after stopping their vehicle and finding 13 goats inside.
Police spokesperson Sergeant Majola Nkohli explained how the incident unfolded.
He said members of Port Alfred’s K9 unit had been patrolling the R72 in the early hours of Tuesday February 8, and at about 2.30am, they spotted a suspicious white Ford bakkie.
“The movement of animals at the back of the bakkie drew members’ attention and [they] drew driver’s attention to stop. Police managed to pull the bakkie off the road at the corner of Miles and Southwell streets, Port Alfred,” Nkohli said.
Aside from the three men and the 13 goats, Nkohli said on searching the vehicle police found and seized a shotgun with ammunition.
He said the occupants, aged between 32 and 45 years old, could not give a satisfactory account about the goats. Two of the suspects were from Kenton-on-Sea while the third was from Port Alfred. They were believed to be heading in the direction of Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth).
Police provided two photos from the scene, one showing a shotgun with ammunition in a small plastic bag and a Puma sport bag, and the other the goats in the back of the bakkie.
“The preliminary investigation revealed that the goats, valued at around R48,000, were stolen from a farm in Peddie. The three men were arrested and detained for stock theft and possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition. The goats and a bakkie were seized.”
He went on to mention that an application for the vehicle to be forfeited to the state would follow. The three suspects were due to appear in the Port Alfred magistrate’s court on the aforementioned charges last week.
