CYBER ISS TODAY SECURITY
South Africa’s deadly mix of explosives, extortion and organised crime The use of terrorist tactics by criminals highlights the urgency of dealing with smuggled explosives. By Richard Chelin, Researcher and Willem Els, Senior Training Coordinator, ENACT, ISS Pretoria. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/south-africas-deadly-mix-of-explosives-extortion-and-organised-crime Article first published by ISS TODAY.
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n 30 January, armed robbers in Cape Town hijacked two members of a maintenance team loading automated teller machines (ATMs). They strapped a makeshift explosive device to one of the victims1 and forced him to open various ATMs in order to steal the cash. The victim was later released next to a highway. The device comprised blasting cartridges similar to those smuggled across South Africa’s borders by organised crime syndicates. Members of the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) Cape Town Explosives Section, specialising in
hazardous device incidents, defused the device and freed2 the victim, unharmed. The illegal smuggling of explosives in South Africa is a disaster3 waiting to happen. Explosives are brought into the country, predominantly from Zimbabwe, and often by unsuspecting victims, and then find their way into the hands of organised criminals. The explosives are used to bomb ATMs, rob cash-in-transit vehicles, and in illegal mining operations. The incident in Cape Town displays
In the Cape Town case, illegal explosives were used to maximise profits with minimum personal risk worrying tactics not used before by criminals in South Africa. Similar methods have however been reported over the past two decades in other parts of the world. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) terrorist group has often used the method. In 2000, FARC members strapped an explosive device around the neck of a woman not adhering to their
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extortion campaign against the local population. The bomb disposal technician who tried to render the device safe activated the bomb while defusing it, killing himself and the victim. This incident was followed by another attempt by the same group targeting a farmer unwilling to pay extortion money. As with any new tactics employed by criminals, other organised crime groups in Colombia quickly began adopting these techniques.
SECURITY FOCUS AFRICA FEBRUARY 2021
In 2003, a pizza delivery man in Pennsylvania entered a bank with a similar5 device fitted around his neck and a note demanding US$250 000. He was stopped by police and the bomb squad was called. He told the police that a gang had strapped the device to his body and handed him the note to rob the bank. The device was remotely detonated three
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