FORTY cellphones, 25 laptops and seven computers were confiscated by police from a shop on Oak Street on Wednesday.
The goods were seized during an all-day massive crime prevention operation by Kempton police in the CBD headed by Lt Col Robbie Roberts who was joined by the metro police and mounted police unit.
According to Kempton SAPS spokesperson, Capt Jethro Mtshali, the operation lasted from 8am to 4pm. The goods seized were allegedly stolen from various places.
“The 43-year-old shop owner was subsequently arrested for possession of suspected stolen goods,” Mtshali said.
Other second-hand goods shops were slapped with fines for failing to comply with the Second-Hand Goods Act.
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“Two suspects, one at the corner of West Street and Central Avenue, and the other on Kempton Road, were also arrested for possession of drugs.”
About 89 people and 23 vehicles were searched during the operation.
Roberts said this kind of operation would continue as the CBD remained a hot spot where crimes such as robberies, theft of motor vehicles and business robberies were prevalent.
In a separate incident on July 7, seven laptops were confiscated from a Kempton shop after it was discovered they were allegedly stolen from the University of South Africa (Unisa) campus in Pretoria.
According to Mtshali, Kempton police worked with a detective from Sunnyside, Pretoria after receiving a tip-off about the laptops being sold at the shop on West Street.
Kempton police, the detective from Sunnyside, as well as the informant who gave the cops the tip-off, made their way to the shop.
“The informant was able to identify the laptops as the ones stolen from the university.”
The shop owner (27) was arrested for possession of suspected stolen goods, with the possibility of adding other charges, including receiving and buying goods suspected to have been stolen, as he failed to produce proof of where he purchased the goods.
