Port Elizabeth police are searching for a total of nine suspects who broke into Walmer Park Shopping Centre in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Warrant Officer, Alwin Labans, said seven men allegedly used crowbars and hammers to force open a fire escape door leading to the toilets.
The other two suspects were the drivers and stayed in the getaway vehicles.
Labans said CCTV footage showed seven suspects, wearing dark hoodies, smashing three windows of Francarlo Jewellers before stealing items said to be worth hundreds of thousands of rands.
He said the men also smashed the glass door to a nearby I-Store but did not take anything.
In a statement, Walmer Park Centre Manager, Leonie Scheepers, said while seven suspects entered the Centre, there was a total of nine suspects including two drivers who arrived in two cars shortly after 4am.
"At 04h07 this morning, 2 vehicles entered the centre car park from the 14th Avenue entrance and drove to the 'Mugg & Bean' receiving area, where at 04h08, 7 male suspects, some with firearms, a sledgehammer and a crowbar, entered the centre by forcing open the fire escape door in the passage leading to the toilets," she said.
Scheepers said robbers took just one minute and 40 seconds from the time they entered the Centre to the last suspect leaving.
"The incident is captured on the Centre's CCTV camera system. Whilst it is very apparent that this incident was a planned and orchestrated event, a full investigation is currently underway,".
