Mafia-style tactics surface in court hearing

Two brothers stand accused in the Cape High Court for operating a highly-sophisticated hijacking scheme which fleeced a tobacco company of millions of rands in cigarettes.

And the man who allegedly bought the cigarettes Selwyn and Virgil de Vries are accused of stealing from hijacked British American Tobacco (BAT) Company trucks - allegedly with the help of eight accomplices - also faces a heavy sentence if convicted of being involved in the plot.

The brothers, alleged buyer Achmat Mather and alleged accomplices Julian van Heerden, Vernon Victor, Alex Anna, Gary Williams, Llewellyn Smith, Francis Ngarinoma, Edward Moagi and Darryl Pitt, face 22 charges. They include kidnapping, theft, robbery with aggravated circumstances and attempted murder.