Close to half a ton of suspected stolen copper was seized after Makhado (Louis Trichardt) police raided a house in President Street last week.

The raid followed a tip-off from a member of the public. Six suspects were arrested and 414,5 kilograms of suspected stolen copper was confiscated.

Local police spokesperson Insp Ndwamato Vele said a member of the public phoned the police station on Thursday, December 7, and told them about a bakkie off-loading copper at the house in President Street. Although the owner of the house was a registered scrap metal dealer, police became suspicious as to why the copper was being off-loaded behind the house in the municipal tree sanctuary.

Shortly after the call, police performed a successful raid on the house. The seized copper was taken to the police station for safe storage. Upon further investigation, it was found that, although the owner of the house was a registered scrap metal dealer, he was not licensed to buy or sell copper.

The six suspects, Samuel Ngwenya (41), Thomas Bidi (25), Solomon Leshabane (27), Dirk Booysen (37), Ntshengedzeni Doboro (35), as well as a 16-year-old minor, appeared in the local magistrate’s court on Monday December 11. Their case was postponed until Friday, January 12, for further investigation.

As for the scrap metal dealer’s licence, Insp Vele said a report will be written to prevent the re-issuing of a licence in future. He thanked the public for coming forward with the information and urged others to do the same if they know about scrap metal dealers who buy stolen copper.