SCRAPYARDS are often searched by the police for stolen copper cables.
This is because thugs strip copper cables from power stations and train stations to sell to scrapyards.
But thugs are now giving the scrapyards a taste of their own medicine.
They rob the scrapyards of the same copper cables they sold to them and sell them to other scrapyard owners.
A scrapyard owner from Springs, Ekurhuleni, felt the pinch when three thugs pounced on him and took a roll of copper.
The shocked owner said the three thugs came in as people who wanted to sell scrap metals to him.
“I opened the gate for them and they were carrying a bag. I put it on top of the scale to weigh it,” he said.
He said one of them quickly drew out a firearm and pointed it at him, asking where the money is.
The scrapyard owner said he pointed to a cupboard and the suspect holding the gun took R300 000 in cash.
He said the suspects took him to the next room where he sleeps and pushed him onto the bed to tie him with a rope.
He said suspects ransacked the bag in the scrapyard to look for copper.
He said there was a roll of copper in one bag which weighed over 15 grams.
The suspects took the bag together with his cellphone, loose brass and fled the scene.
Sergeant Themba Tshabalala of Springs Police Station said the suspects are unknown to the victim and he was not harmed.