Shoprite Holdings has offered a whooping R50 000 bounty to anyone with information on the thieves who dug a tunnel in one of the outlets in Newton Junction stealing alcohol worth R300 000. The shop is in possession of a video footage which shows that the criminal offence was conducted by three suspects. The suspected criminals reportedly dug the whole past a solid concrete floor to gain entry into the store at time when the sale of liquor was restricted by the South African government during the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown.
It is alleged that one of the employees at the broken in Shoprite liquor shop discovered the hole on the ground, on a Friday as she went to the shop to prepare for a reopening after the alcohol restrictions were lifted in the third level of the lockdown.
Shoprite Group’s loss control manager, Mr Oswald Meiring in a statement said they were shocked with the incident as the shop was secured inside out.
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“With alcohol in high demand during the lockdown period, the store was secured from the outside throughout. But the suspects avoided the mall’s main entrance and instead used electrical and stormwater tunnels beneath the shopping centre to gain access to an area beneath the store. They then tunnelled through the solid concrete floor directly into the liquor shop to gain access undetected,” he said.
Up to now, it is still not clear how the suspects got the information that there was a tunnel or what period they took to penetrate through the thick concrete floor.
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On May 21, the suspected criminals were captured by the Close Circuit Television (CCTV) and they are seen frequenting the store to steal more and more stocks of alcohol.
The suspects reportedly stole an alcohol consignment valued at R300 000 which comprised of whiskies, brandy, vodka, gin, ciders and beers.
Shoprite group as offered R50 000 reward to any person who will provide them with information that will lead to the arrest of the suspects.