Limpopo police arrests over a thousand suspects during operation “New Dawn”

LIMPOPO – In a statement released, Police spokesperson, Col Moatshe Ngoepe says the operations were led by the Deputy Provincial Commissioner responsible for Policing,  Major General Jan Scheepers and the Deputy Provincial Commissioner responsible for the Detectives, Major General Samuel Manala and comprised of members from various Police Units from the Provincial Office, Units, Clusters and Police Stations. These includes the Crime prevention Units, the Crime Intelligence, the Detectives, Tactical Response Team (TRT) , the Public Order Police Unit, Border Police, the K9 Unit and the Air wing.

“During the operations 1998 people were arrested and issued with fines for offences such as road traffic act, 87 people were arrested for drunken driving, 19 people arrested for non-compliance on liquor act and second hand goods and public drinking and 24 people arrested for possession of dangerous weapons, etc,” explains Ngoepe.

A further 1090 suspects were arrested for crimes ranging from rape, murder, armed robbery, burglary, house robbery; 52 people were arrested for possession and dealing in drugs, possession of suspected stolen goods, possession of dagga, possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition, carjacking, theft,  kidnapping, stock theft, 325 undocumented persons were arrested for Illegal immigration Act, etc.”

The operations were conducted through tracing of wanted suspects, 171 road blocks, 2102 stop and searches, 1353 vehicle control points where 43921 persons were searched and 14379 motor vehicles were searched and raiding of illegal businesses including liquor outlets.

Some of the successes include the following:

In the Mahwelereng Cluster, three suspects (aged between 29 and 34) were arrested for possession of stolen properties and possession of suspected stolen motor vehicle in the Zebediela and Mokopane Policing areas.

“It is alleged these suspects were targeting students, which study at night, and would rob them their belongings at gunpoint in the Zebediela policing area. During the arrest, three cellphones and one motor vehicle were recovered.”

Meanwhile in the Thohoyandou Policing area, a 27-year-old man was arrested for a series of rape incidents, including the rape a 15-year-old girl inside a taxi on 13 February. He will still be linked to and charged with similar crimes he committed in the area some months back.”

In the Tzaneen Cluster, a 38-year-old man was arrested for possession of illegal cigarettes in the Mokwakwaila policing area. During the arrest, boxes containing illegal cigarettes worth over R100 000 and the motor vehicle were seized, Ngoepe adds.

In the Giyani Cluster, under the Saselamani Policing area, a 22-year-old woman was arrested for illegal hunting. “The police followed up on information received about the existence of wild animal parts in a certain house around the area. During the search they recovered a lion skin and a bag full of dried wild animal meat.”

The recovered items during these operations include four  firearms, five  rifles, 52 ammunition, 31 cellphones, one tablet, nine laptops with three laptop bags and accessories, 58 sachets of dagga, 48 sachets and three (03) plastics of drugs, computers, motor vehicles parts, cash amount of money, seven(07) garden spades, clothing, music system, liquor and groceries.

The estimated value of these recovered items, is over R1 million. The origin of all of these items will still be determined by the ongoing Police investigations, Ngoepe says.

The arrested suspects will soon appear before various magistrate courts throughout the Province.

The Provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service in Limpopo Lieutenant General Nneke Ledwaba praised all the hard working police officials who committed themselves in serving the community and ensuring that all the streets of this Province are safe at all times.