FOUR vagrants were arrested this morning after a raid by members of the Durban North SAPS, the Durban North/Umhlanga CPF, Durban North ward councillor, Shaun Ryley and other stakeholders in the area. During the operation which targeted Beachwood, Broadway, La Lucia and uMhlanga taxi ranks, two vagrants were arrested with a bagful of hypodermic needles. Police also arrested a vagrant for being in possession of a bag full of dagga and another was arrested for loitering.

Durban North resident and CPF member, Mary Knox, said one of the vagrants claimed to be diabetic.

“He argued that’s why he had a bag full of hypodermic needles but we found no insulin. We also found one of the vagrants on Swapo Road (Broadway) with a large amount of dagga. In total four people were arrested during the operation,” she explained.

According to Capt Raymond Deokaran, spokesman for the Durban North station, the raids were in an effort to curb petty theft in the Durban North and uMhlanga and was part of the vagrant management programme.

“The raid is part of an ongoing initiative to root out vagrants from the area. We also checked out the thickets around Beachwood but found no settlements. We have received complaints from residents in the area and though I cannot say all vagrants are criminals, we believe there is a criminal element using vagrancy in the area as a cloak.”

“Small crimes lead to big crimes. Cable theft and theft out of motor vehicles are just some of the small crimes that can have an impact on the community, and so we have now taken a hard stand against petty and opportunistic crimes. Fingerprints were taken of the men and criminal checks will be done to determine if any can be linked to crimes in the area,” he said.