Willowvale - Willowvale police have arrested two men, aged 30 and 37, for possession of unlicensed firearms - a pistol with 25 rounds of ammunition and an automatic rifle with 40 rounds of ammunition, Eastern Cape police said on Saturday.
Both men were stopped by Willowvale police officers on patrol along Willowvale Main Street in the early hours of Saturday morning, Captain Jackson Manatha said.
The suspects could not produce licenses for the firearms and ammunition. The firearms would be sent for ballistic testing to establish if they had been used in the commission of crime in Willowvale and the surrounding areas. The two men would appear in the Willowvale Magistrate's Court on Monday, Manatha said.
Butterworth policing cluster acting commander Colonel Ncedo Ngwendze congratulated the Willowvale police officers for "being alert, as crime such as armed robberies and murders have been prevented through the arrests of the suspects and recovery of the unlicensed firearms and ammunition".