The West Rand K9 Unit’s patrols have proved to be bearing the desired fruits after the team bust a number of criminals in the Honeydew area recently.
The K9 unit, which has been very active especially in the early hours of the morning, pounced on several suspected criminals who were caught committing various lawless activities.
On 5 April, the members of the West Rand Flexi K9 unit pursued a 35-year-old foreign national who was actively seen selling narcotics opposite the TicketPro Dome in Northwold.
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“The members managed to arrest him and recovered a bag, which he had thrown away, containing narcotics and dagga. A search was then conducted by narcotics dog ‘Bailey’, which resulted in more dagga and packaging being recovered,” said Karen du Plessis, spokesperson for the West Rand K9 Unit.
Among the recovered narcotics were 115 Ziploc-type bags containing dagga, one black plastic bag containing dagga, three Ziploc-type bags containing the drug CAT and two cellphones. All of this was booked in at the Honeydew Police Station as evidence.
“The dagga confiscated weighed in at 482 grams, while the narcotics had a total street value of R10 000,” Du Plessis disclosed.
This success was followed by the arrest of two suspects aged 28 and 33 who were nabbed while travelling with a generator worth R300 000 on a Ford Ranger bakkie along Jim Fouché Road. Du Plessis explained how the officers encountered the suspects. “They were busy patrolling the Weltevreden Park area along Jim Fouché Road at about 1am when the members spotted a white Ford Ranger bakkie pulling a white mobile generator,” she explained.
Du Plessis added that the officers made a U-turn and stopped the bakkie. Upon approaching the generator they noticed that that it was still running. “The driver’s explanation was that he was hired to remove it and take it somewhere in Weltevreden Park,” she further explained.
When further interrogated by the officers, the men changed their tune, explaining that they now had to take the generator to Wynberg. This prompted the officers to check the trailer’s registration. “The trailer happened to belong to Vodacom in Midrand. Sergeant Sentle Mofolo contacted the tracking company to confirm this, and it was discovered that it belonged to one of their clients, but the matter had not yet been reported. The tracking company then called Vodacom, which then verified that the generator belonged to them and was supposed to be stationed in Little Falls at one of their Vodacom towers,” Du Plessis continued.
Du Plessis explained that the thieves had decided to travel with a running generator because once it was turned off, its tracker would be activated.
Possession of both stolen property and a vehicle used in the commission of a crime were some of the charges laid against the suspects.
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