Gqeberha police killed one suspect and arrested 17 others after they were spotted offloading alcohol from a hijacked truck over the weekend.
Spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu says a truck driver was making his way down Struanway towards Deal Party on Saturday afternoon when hijackers stopped him as he was slowing down at a speed hump.
She says a passenger jumped out of a grey VW Polo and forced the driver at gunpoint to get into another vehicle.
Colonel Naidu says the truck driver was dropped off in Motherwell and the matter was reported to Algoa Park police.
She says about an hour later members followed up on information and found a number of suspects offloading the truck in Windvogel.
When they noticed the police they ran into them scattered in different directions while firing shots at the police.
Colonel Naidu says they retaliated killing one and arresting 16.
K9 Officers Bentley and Max started tracking the reeds and apprehended one suspect.
The deceased suspect is in his thirties and has not yet been identified and IPID will investigate.
The other men, aged between 16 and 35 are expected to appear in court soon.
