A police intelligence-driven operation that lasted three days has seen the recovery of stolen vehicles and firearms.
Following up on information, Ladysmith Crime Intelligence & Protection Services (CIPS) went to the Ematsheni (Olivershoek) area on Wednesday, January 29. There, the officers traced and located a homestead where they found a red Nissan 1400 van. The vehicle had been tampered with, identification tags had been removed and the vehicle had a false registration plate. It was established that the van had been stolen from the Ladysmith CBD a week before. The person who had brought the vehicle to Ematsheni was not present, and investigations are continuing.
The next day (January 30), Ladysmith CIPS, together with Pietermaritzburg Public Order Policing (POP), and detectives from the Ladysmith Vehicle Identification Section (VIS) followed up on more information, again in the Ematsheni area. The operation resulted in the recovery of two vehicles, namely a Ford Courier and an Isuzu KB bakkie. The vehicles’ identification marks had also been compromised. The suspects responsible for storing the vehicles are known and police are in the process of tracing them.
During the same operation, POP members, with information supplied by Ladysmith CIPS, recovered an abandoned unlicensed pistol.
Information supplied by Ladysmith CIPS also resulted in the recovery of a .308 rifle in the Bergville area. A 50-year-old man was arrested for being in possession of the unlicensed firearm. The suspect briefly appeared in the Bergville Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, February 4.
