15-05-2025
Hawks foils attempt by two men to smuggle R16 million in gold bars
The men were found in possession of R16 million worth of gold bars.
THERE was no silver lining for two men and their surreptitious attempt to move a stack of gold bars worth R16 million from the Free State to Gauteng.
Instead, they were nabbed en route to their drop-off point after police uncovered their plan, set-up a sting operation and arrested them.
When questioned about the bag of gold in their vehicle, Daniel Schubert, 61, and Adriaan du Plessis, 49, were unable to provide a plausible explanation.
Yesterday, they both appeared at the Kempton Park Magistrate's Court in Gauteng on charges related to being in possession of suspected stolen property and for allegedly possessing unwrought gold worth R16 million.
The provincial spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (known as Hawks), Colonel Katlego Mogale, said the arrests followed information received by members of the Hawks' Serious Organised Crime Investigation team.
The information was about a grey BMW travelling from the Free State, headed to Gauteng en route to sell the gold.
