Cape Town - Western Cape police have traced 415 suspects wanted in connection with murder, rape, drug possession and other crimes, provincial spokesperson Frederick van Wyk said on Sunday.
Van Wyk said a special tracing and crime prevention operation started on Monday and ended on Sunday morning.
One of the several tracing operations held during this week led to the successful arrest of three murder suspects, aged 25, 29 and 30, over an incident which took place on Friday near Monwabisi Beach, Khayelitsha.
The body of a 21-year-old man was found dumped there.
“The immediate follow up of information received led to these arrests and two illegal firearms were also recovered,” Van Wyk said.
He was referring to the murder of Olwyn Cowley, who was shot by people posing to be buyers of the BMW he was advertising.
An operation to corner maintenance defaulters called “Operation Basadi” was part of the police activities.
“A total of 15 maintenance defaulters were arrested during this past week.”
This also helped police nab 82 wanted suspects on various crimes in Mitchells Plain.
Police seized drugs with a street value of around R12 660 and arrested over 100 suspects.
Van Wyk urged communities to contact police with reliable tip-offs.
“This kind of successes is a reflection of the good co-operation that exists between the community of Mitchells Plain and the SA Police Service.” - Sapa