While an alleged Transnet fuel thief kingpin appeared before the Witbank Magistrate's Court on Thursday, the Hawks raided his home and seized several of his luxury vehicles.

The vehicles include a Jeep SRT 8 SUV, a Mercedes Benz Viano minibus, a Toyota Land Cruiser, a Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV and a Jeep V8 SUV.

Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Katlego Mogale said the value of the vehicles has not yet been established.

"Other items that were seized include five cell phones, documents, illegal firearms and ammunition and an undisclosed amount of cash," she said.

The 35-year-old suspect was arrested in Pretoria while his two accomplices were arrested at his home in Witbank.

Mogale said the operation to arrest the kingpin continued until the evening on Thursday.

"Processing the exhibits and assets suspected to be the proceeds of crime took time," she said.

She said the suspect will subsequently appear in Vrede Magistrate's Court on Friday, owing to the volume of work to make the docket court ready.

More charges will likely be added after a second tanker which was allegedly seen on his premises over the weekend when his alleged accomplices were arrested has now been linked to a new incident of damage to the Transnet pipeline in Silverton, Pretoria on Thursday morning.

The suspects fled the scene before the arrest and the tanker was seized for further investigation.

Mogale said the alleged kingpin will be facing the main charge of damage to essential infrastructure and theft of fuel when he appears in the Vrede court on Friday.

"The Priority Crime Specialised Investigation (PCSI) of the Hawks in Free State has now been activated to begin their probe into the assets belonging to the alleged kingpin, suspected to be the proceeds of crime," she said.

The case against five illegal immigrants arrested at his homestead was referred to the local detectives for a further probe.