From Friday, January 22 until Sunday, January 24, police in the Uthukela Cluster worked around the clock to rid the area of firearms and ammunition.

A deployment of police officers from units in Newcastle, Durban, Port Shepstone and Pietermaritzburg were working in the Winterton area on Friday, together with members from Ladysmith Crime Intelligence.

During the operation the eMaswazini area was targeted and police seized four abandoned firearms. These were a 9mm Browning short, two 9mm Star pistols and a .38 Special revolver. Altogether 41 rounds of ammunition were also seized.

The operation then moved to the Stulwane area in Bergville where a 9mm pistol was seized along with 27 rounds of ammunition of various calibres. After this the police officers seized a 9mm pistol in the Amangwe area. The suspects fled prior to police arrival. On Sunday, January 24, the group then targeted the Bergville area and seized five firearms.

The find included a Vector semi-automatic rifle, a 12 bore shotgun, a 308 Lee Enfield rifle, a 9mm Luger pistol, and a 357 Magnum revolver.

The firearms were found abandoned at a homestead along with 1 263 rounds of ammunition of various calibres. Members from police stations in the Uthukela Cluster added to this success. Ezakheni SAPS arrested a 20-year-old suspect on January 22 at St Chads after receiving a tipoff about a suspicious vehicle.

A search of the vehicle yielded an unlicensed firearm and ammunition. While on January 23, Weenen SAPS members arrested a 15-year-old youth for the possession of an unlicensed firearm. The police officers were following up on information about a theft when they spotted the teenager carrying the firearm.

Both suspects are set to appear in the Ezakheni and Weenen Magistrate’s Court, respectively. Over the weekend a total of 13 firearms and 1 338 rounds of ammunition were seized.