CAPE TOWN - The SA Police Service in the Western Cape said that its operations conducted across the province in the past week have yielded significant successes, including the removal of 20 firearms from the streets and the arrest of 34 suspects.
On Tuesday, following a robbery at a butchery in Eersterivier perpetrated by four robbers, officers from the Kleinvlei crime prevention unit apprehended a suspect not far from the crime scene and confiscated an illegal firearm. Another firearm was found near an abandoned vehicle. The other robbers are yet to be arrested. The arrested suspect appeared in court and will be remanded in custody until his next court appearance after his bail application was denied.
On the same day, members of the Winelands cluster team arrested a 27-year-old man after he was found to be in possession of an illegal firearm in Paarl-East.
On Wednesday, members of the anti-gang unit (AGU) conducted an operation in Manenberg and arrested two suspects aged 40 and 42 for possession of an illegal CZ76B 9mm pistol and a huge haul of ammunition in Tungela Road. The ammunition included: nine shotgun rounds, nine 9mm rounds, 16 .38 special rounds, three R5 rounds, two .22 rounds, one magazine and a 9mm short magazine.
On the same day, Kuils River police officers arrested a 25-year-old man in the Kalkfontein area for the illegal possession of a 7.65mm pistol, rounds of ammunition and a magazine.
On Friday, members of the Mitchells Plain crime prevention unit arrested a suspect in Fernwood Street in Tafelsig. The 35-year-old was found in possession of a black Z88 Parabellum pistol with its serial number still intact, six rounds of 9mm ammunition and a magazine.
In Delft, officers conducting stop-and-search operations arrested a suspect found in possession of an illegal .38 special revolver.
During the same operations along the N2 Gateway area, officers broke up an illegal gathering and recovered a home-made zip gun. Five further arrests were made for various other crimes.
On Saturday, during further operations conducted in Delft South, officers investigated a suspicious vehicle with tinted windows. There were three occupants inside the vehicle. One of them had sustained three bullet wounds and another suspect was found to be in possession of a Z88 firearm, two magazines and 24 rounds of ammunition.
Officers arrested all three suspects and an investigation is under way to determine how the injured suspect got shot.
On Saturday, officers in Ravensmead spotted three suspicious-looking people in Coronation Street. As they drew near, a Norinco pistol was thrown out of the vehicle's window. The suspects, aged 21, 23 and 24, were caught and arrested. The firearm was reported to have been stolen in the Durbanville area in 2017.
On the same day, officers in Kleinvlei arrested a 26-year-old suspect with alleged links to a local gang after he was found to be in possession of an unlicensed firearm.
On the other side of the province, Worcester’s AGU and crime intelligence unit arrested four suspects aged between 25 and 67 after they were found in possession of illegal firearms and ammunition. The suspects will appear in court soon.
Operations in Avian Park in Worcester also yielded success for the AGU when officers found a 12-bore shotgun hidden in the bushes. The shotgun was sent for ballistic testing to determine whether it was used in any crimes.
On Sunday, members of the K9 unit along with those of the A-shift in Worcester arrested a 21-year-old man in Hex Park after he was found to have an illegal firearm in his possession.
The Nyanga cluster recorded the recovery of four firearms and ammunition and nine suspects between 26 and 74 years old were arrested.
A suspect in Citrusdal was also arrested after the police in the area seized a number of rounds of ammunition.