Armed men posing as policemen robbed a delivery truck of R4.5-million worth of cigarettes outside Port Elizabeth on Tuesday, said Eastern Cape police.

At 1am, a delivery truck carrying the cigarettes was flagged down on the N2 at what the driver thought was a police roadblock, said Inspector Alwin Labans.

The group of men who were posing as police were robbers armed with handguns. The armed robbers tied up the driver and his passenger and stole the cigarettes, moving them from the delivery truck into waiting vehicles.

The robbers then left, leaving the driver and passenger tied up at the scene. Neither was hurt during the robbery.

Labans said the driver could not say how many men had robbed him.

A case of armed robbery has been opened.

Sapa