Operation tackles crime in Etwatwa
184 suspects were arrested in Ekurhuleni during the operation.
A total of 56 traffic fines to the value of R17 000 were issued and five suspects arrested for possession of drugs, including dagga, crystal meth and Mandrax tablets, during Operation Shanela in Etwatwa on May 2.
Ekurhuleni SAPS commissioner Major General Anna Sithole led the operation. It included members of the SAPS, EMPD, Home Affairs, CPF, Gauteng Traffic Police, and other law enforcement agencies.
According to Ekurhuleni SAPS spokesperson Captain Neldah Sekgobela, the team arrested a further five people for being undocumented. They also nabbed seven people for dealing with liquor without a license and detained one for possession of an illegal firearm.
Additionally, the team seized space cookies (cookies laced with dagga), pokes of dagga, a piece of mirror, two boxes of cigarettes and a hubbly bubbly pipe during a search in one of the local high schools.
Sekgobela added they conducted a street imbizo in the Mandela section, where they addressed several crime-related issues and shared the contact details of the Etwatwa SAPS management with community members.
Sithole explained they held a multidisciplinary operation in the region to clean the streets and eliminate crime.
In total 184 suspects were apprehended around Ekurhuleni.
Around 156 were detained by detectives across the region from the start of the operation on the evening of May 1 to the morning of May 2.
A total of 110 were arrested for contact crimes, 15 for contact-related crimes, two for tampering with essential infrastructure, 23 for serious crimes and 30 for GBV.
Sithole hailed the commitment and effort of everyone involved, saying it ensured criminals don’t get breathing space in Ekurhuleni.
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