Eleven suspects have been arrested and a R5 million worth of mining chrome was recovered during a search and seize operation in Witbank on Thursday.

In a statement, the South African Police Service (Saps) said, the suspects include a female and 8 males who are from Zimbabwe, while two other males are from Mozambique.

The investigation has so far revealed that the woman, believed to be the kingpin was in possession of a South African Identity Document whereas the rest did not have legal documents to be in the country.

Following a team consisting of members from Witbank SAPS, Witbank Crime Intelligence and Transnet officials conducted a sting operation on Thursday afternoon.

During the search and seize operation police officials discovered that there were four facility rooms packed with mining chrome.

The suspects are facing charges which include the illegal possession of mining chrome.