Police say suspects were planning a cash truck heist and were responsible for similar crimes elsewhere in the country.

The suspects were believed to be planning a cash truck heist, also called a cash-in-transit (CIT) heist, and were responsible for similar crimes in other provinces, National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola said on Friday from the crime scene in South Africa’s northernmost province.

“We do believe this syndicate has been involved in a number of CITs in this province, Mpumalanga and Gauteng,” Masemola told reporters in Makhado, about 400km (250 miles) northeast of Johannesburg.

One police officer was “injured very seriously” in the shootout, which lasted about 90 minutes, he added.

According to police, who had been tracking the suspects’ movements for a few days, an investigation began in January with the help of the country’s intelligence unit.

“As soon as police approached the address, the group of suspects began shooting, police retaliated,” the South African Police Service said in a statement. “Sixteen males and two females were declared dead at the scene.”

Masemola told reporters that police intended “to arrest them before they go out and commit the crime”.

High crime rate

Cash truck heists happen regularly in the crime-ridden country.

Last year, 10 suspects died during a cash-in-transit shootout with police after the would-be robbers fired at a police helicopter and wounded one of the pilots.

In May, Police Minister Bheki Cele said there was a “stubborn increase” in cash-in-transit robberies of more than 20 percent with 64 cases reported during the first three months of the year.

The crime statistics, which are presented by the minister every quarter in a live broadcast, have been steadily rising over the past few months in a country that has one of the highest crime rates in the world.

Police have said they are “clamping down on serious and violent crimes throughout the country”.

Four people found in “another safe house” were arrested in connection to the alleged cash truck robbery plan.

Masemola said there was also an “explosive that was ready to be used because they wanted to hit one of the cash depots in the province”.

He said the suspects planned to use an ambulance to transport the money to Gauteng province.