Johannesburg – Police in Gauteng have seized 17 illegal firearms, including pistols and AK47 rifles with more than 100 rounds of ammunition, recovered six stolen vehicles, and arrested 18 suspects during crime prevention operations over the weekend.
“These suspects will be charged with possession of unlicenced firearms, possession of stolen property, truck hijacking, attempted murder, and murder, when they appear in various Magistrate’s Courts in Gauteng,” spokesman Lt-Col Lungelo Dlamini said on Sunday.
Police also appealed to members of the public to come forward with information that may have an effect in reducing illegal firearms, which were mostly used to commit serious and violent crimes, including house robberies, hijacking, murder, and business robberies. Any information that led to the recovery of firearms and the arrest of criminals may be rewarded, he said.
The firearms were recovered in various areas, including Alberton, Benoni, Diepsloot, Ennerdale, Ivory Park, Germiston, Jeppe, Johannesburg Central, Klipriver, Mamelodi, and Thembisa.
Four of the firearms – three AK47 rifles and a pistol – were seized following a shoot-out between police and criminals who hijacked a truck carrying electronic equipment in Midrand. Two stolen vehicles used during the hijacking were also confiscated. Three of the suspects were being profiled as they may be part of a syndicate involved in truck hijacking and dealing in stolen goods.
In another incident, two suspects were arrested following a hijacking in which the driver of a car was shot dead in the early hours of Sunday morning at the corner of Liddle and Terrace streets in Betrams. Police responded immediately and gave chase.
The hijacked car, a maroon Toyota, was involved in an accident and police arrested the suspects. An unlicenced firearm suspected to have been stolen in Pinetown during 1991 was recovered. A passenger who was with the deceased in the hijacked car was wounded and recovering in a local hospital.
The other firearms and vehicles were recovered during routine crime prevention operations, Dlamini said.
African News Agency