Durban - Family, friends and employees close to you, could be leaking information to criminals about the valuables in your home.
KZN police issued a warning on Wednesday, urging residents to not keep large amounts of jewellery in their homes, adding that relatives, employees and friends, could be passing information onto criminals.
“Police in KwaZulu-Natal are appealing to the home owners not keep large amounts of jewellery at their homes. We have noticed that there are a number of cases where criminals target houses specifically for jewellery,” said KZN SAPS spokesman Lt Col Thulani Zwane.
The warning comes after three armed suspects entered a home at Orient Heights in Mountain Rise, Pietermaritzburg, on Tuesday.
The criminals allegedly forced the door open and threatened the owner and his family with firearms. A large amount of jewellery was taken from the house before the suspects fled in their getaway vehicle. A case of robbery was opened at the Mountain Rise police station.
Police said there was an impression that the criminals have inside information regarding which homes have large amounts of jewellery.
“If you have a lot of jewellery at your home it is possible that those close to you, including your family, friends or employees might be leaking information to criminals,” said Zwane.
Police have urged residents to rather keep their jewellery in safety deposit boxes.
“You are putting yourselves and your families at risk by keeping items of extremely high value and large sums of cash at home. Jewellery store owners are also cautioned to take extra precautions and strengthen their security measures to safeguard their jewellery. Beware of criminals who will pretend to be customers and enter the store with firearms,” said Zwane.