LOSING out on a “high” weekend happened to seven suspects after they were arrested for being in possession of dagga.
That was after police and community watch groups were hot on the heels of criminals over the past weekend, with three big operations taking place.
The Kempton SAPS’s head of crime prevention and visible policing, Col Steven Moodley, led two operations, one on Friday between 7am and 3pm, and another one on Saturday night until 4am on Sunday.
On Friday afternoon until the following day, station commander Brig Bertha Kgoroba was joined by members of Kempton SAPS’ Crime Prevention Unit, neighbourhood watch and CPF members to embark on a stop and search operation.
All three operations yielded positive results with various arrests being made for drug possession, possession of stolen goods as well as contravention of the second hand goods act.
In the first operation, two suspects were arrested for being in possession of drugs. One was found with crystal meth and the second with dagga. Two suspects were also arrested for the contravention of the second hand goods act.
“A third suspect was arrested for being in possession of a stolen iPhone. The iPhone was linked to a Tembisa armed robbery which occurred on October 5,” Moodley said.
In the second operation, led by Kgoroba, seven suspects were arrested for possession of weed.
The first suspect (24) was arrested outside a tavern on Maple Street in Pomona after trying to flee from the police, at about 9am.
“Upon being searched, police found dagga in his possession,” police spokesperson, Capt Jethro Mtshali, said.
Another suspect (23) was arrested on Commissioner Street about half an hour later. The man was stopped while driving in his car. When he was searched, a plastic bag containing weed was found.
A man (35) who was probably about to light up a joint, was found with a packet of weed at about 9.45am. He was caught with the drugs after he’d just parked his bakkie under a tree along Commissioner Street.
“A 28-year-old was arrested for being in possession of the same drug on Pretoria Road at about 11am.”
Later, at a mini-supermarket on North Rand Road, a 31-year-old was caught with marijuana.
Finally, on Saturday afternoon at about 1pm, two suspects (aged 20 and 23) were arrested on Casuarina Street for being in possession of weed.
The last operation led police to a crime scene in progress at Kempton Square on Saturday night.
“We received a call that a business break-in was taking place. When we arrived the suspects had fled the scene, leaving behind stolen goods from the shops,” Moodley confirmed.
He said it was suspected that the criminals robbed clothing and cell phone stores, as the stolen items left behind included a plastic bag filled with men’s clothing and another containing cell phones.
“The purpose of the operations was to ensure that Kempton’s residents are safe from crime and our youth are not exposed to drug dealers. The operation yielded positive results due to the several arrests made,” Mtshali said.
Moodley said he could already see the difference being made by the operations.
“For example, last night (Saturday night), the number of vagrants were fewer than what we normally find and the prostitutes were also noticeably absent. Our diligence and hard and often distasteful work is surely paying off. Thank you to all the members of our community who diligently came together and worked with us during our joint operations.”
