Cape Town - A total of 43 suspects have been arrested and appeared in court after 42 illegal firearms and 624 rounds of ammunition were confiscated, KwaZulu Natal police said in a statement on Monday.
The suspects were arrested during intelligence-driven operations which started on February 24 and ran until March 2.
Police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Thulani Zwane, said police officers conducted a number of operations, raiding several homesteads for illegal firearms.
He said these operations were conducted in various clusters which included EThekwini, Umgungundlovu, Umkhanyakude, Umzinyathi, King Cetshwayo, Uthukela, and Zululand Cluster.
“The recovered firearms include 38 handguns, two homemade firearms, and one shotgun. Forty-three suspects who were linked to these firearms were arrested. They all appeared in various courts around the province facing possession of illegal firearms and ammunition charges,” said Zwane, adding that all recovered firearms would be subject to ballistic tests to establish if they were used in any other crimes in the province.