Johannesburg - Collaboration between police and the community led to the recovery of an illegal AK47 rifle, four magazines, and 260 rounds of ammunition, and the arrest of three suspects aged between 22 and 28, Gauteng police said.
A police officer was alerted by the community on Saturday about a vehicle with three occupants that looked suspicious in Protea Glen, Soweto, Captain Mavela Masondo said.
The vehicle was intercepted and upon searching it, police found the weapon. The arrested suspects would be profiled to establish whether they could be linked to other crimes, as "such weapons are used for the commission of serious and violent crime", Masondo said.
In a separate incident, police arrested five suspects in Alberton in Ekurhuleni on Friday night after they were found in possession of a hijacked vehicle and an unlicensed firearm.
The suspects allegedly shot at the police as they were stopping them and police retaliated. Two suspects were wounded during the shoot-out. All five suspects, aged between 22 and 40, were arrested and police recovered a hijacked vehicle, an unlicensed firearm, and ammunition, Masondo said.
Gauteng police commissioner Lt-Gen Deliwe De Lange thanked the community for responding to the call for collaboration between police and the community.