Cops arrest six for airport 'follow-home' crimes

The police made a major breakthrough in what has been dubbed the "airport-following" robberies, committed in and around Johannesburg, arresting six suspects.

Police spokesman Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said OR Tambo International Airport-based police and their Johannesburg east counterparts were monitoring a security vehicle contracted to the airport when they noticed it was following a sedan from the airport towards Sandton on Friday night.

"The vehicle was stopped and one of the occupants was a man wanted for possession of unlicensed firearms and armed robbery in Limpopo. He and the other occupant in the vehicle were immediately arrested.

"The team arrested four more suspects in the Hillbrow area. A seventh suspect escaped and is still at large," Naidoo said.

Several items, including the security vehicle, a sedan, passports, at least 15 cellphones, two pistols and several luggage bags were seized in Hillbrow, he said.