Johannesburg - Police have uncovered a stockpile of assault rifles and explosives in a Norwood home.
On Thursday night, law enforcement agents found R1, R4 and AK-47 rifles and about 300 handguns hidden in containers in the home in Woodlands Road, SAPS national commissioner General Riah Phiyega said.
The police also found packaged dagga, detonators, explosives used in ATM bombings and a machine used to make ammunition.
Hundreds of rifles were in the arms cache. The exact figure was not known.
Phiyega said the police had arrested the owner of the home, his daughter and a domestic worker.
Officers from crime intelligence, the Hawks, Hillbrow police and law enforcement agents working with narcotics raided the home after receiving information that there were illegal drugs.
Police were following the trail of a huge crime syndicate boss, Phiyega said.
The investigation was part of a larger operation led by the Hawks and SAPS crime intelligence to battle the top 15 crime syndicates in the country, she said.
These syndicates had committed crimes such as human trafficking and money laundering, she added.
Each province had also drawn up a list of 30 wanted suspects, which included the crime syndicate boss from last night’s investigations.
“We are going to analyse this in detail to establish the origin of these arms and ammunition, and more importantly, what they were intended for,” Phiyega said.