POLICE officers from various clusters in the province have launched targeted operations to eradicate the proliferation of illegal firearms and to ensure that the province is safer as we approach the festive season.
READ: Montclair crime briefs
From 1 October 2019 until 31 October 2019, a total of 205 suspects were arrested in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) for being in illegal possession of firearms and ammunition. Police officers also seized 341 illegal firearms which comprised of 281 pistols/revolvers, 6 semi/automatic firearms, 13 shotguns, 10 homemade firearms and 31 rifles during crime combatting operations. 3272 rounds of ammunition were also seized at various operations that were conducted. The arrested suspects have appeared at several courts across the province and are awaiting trial.
KZN Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Khombinkosi Jula praised police officers for the recovery of these firearms. “I would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to police officers in this province who remain relentless in their quest to remove these weapons of death from the hands of ruthless criminals. We realise that the battle is not over and that this is just the beginning of a new offensive as we wage this war on criminality in KwaZulu-Natal,” he said.
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“We call on citizens to work with police on the ground and to leave no space for criminals to move freely as we reclaim our streets. Citizens need to report crimes immediately to enable our rapid response teams to nab criminals in the act or as they flee from crime scenes. We also wish to encourage our citizens to continue reporting crime anonymously via the My SAPS app or Crime Stop on 08600 10111,” he added.
