Women in blue crime sweep lead to 722 arrests
August multi-disciplinary operations hammer criminals.
Female police officers in the iLembe district spearheaded several multi-disciplinary operations in August which resulted in 722 arrests.
These included suspects wanted for serious offences such as murder and rape.
Operation Basadi also focused on removing illegal firearms, ammunition, dangerous weapons and drugs from the district’s streets.
Thirty-four unlicensed firearms, including an AK-47 rifle, were seized during a roadblock.
Additionally, 324 live rounds of ammunition were confiscated and 21 suspects arrested for possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition.
A substantial amount of drugs was also seized in the district, including 37 grams of rock cocaine, seven grams of heroin, 60 grams of whoonga, 62 heroin tablets, 12 mandrax tablets and more than 3 500 grams of dagga.
Police arrested 83 suspects in connection with drug-related offences.
Twenty-one suspects were apprehended and charged for dealing in liquor without a licence and several illegal shebeens shut down.
The Family Violence, Crime Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit focused on crimes against women and children, arresting 78 people for rape, four for sexual assault, 115 for grievous bodily harm (GBH) and 28 for domestic violence.
Special operations by detectives resulted in the capture of 10 people for murder, six for robbery, three for carjacking, 11 for house robbery and five for business robbery.
Thirty-three arrests were made for malicious damage to property, 14 for shoplifting, six for fraud and 25 for theft.
As part of Operation Basadi, roadblocks conducted in collaboration with KwaDukuza Municipality’s Traffic Control, Crime Prevention and Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) resulted in 66 arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol.
Inspections with the Department of Home Affairs also led to the arrest of 86 illegal immigrants.
iLembe police commissioner, major-general Anthony Gopaul, praised the force, particularly its female officers, for their dedication to community safety.
“August has been an outstanding month for the iLembe district, with our women in blue leading these operations. This reinforces our zero-tolerance approach to crime in our district,” he said.
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