Police in KwaZulu-Natal conducted a number of operations aimed at limiting the number of illegal firearms in the hands of criminals. From April 1, police confiscated a total of 132 illegal firearms with an assortment of 629 rounds of ammunition in various operations conducted around the province.

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A total of 149 suspects were arrested during these operations that were conducted in all 17 clusters and in areas such as Estcourt, Greytown, KwaDukuza, Bulwer, Loskop and Esikhaleni.

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The firearms seized include 122 pistols, three high calibre rifles, four shotguns and three homemade firearms.
All the arrested suspects appeared at various magistrates’ courts.

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These firearms will be subjected to ballistic testing to determine whether they were used in the commission of any crime in the country to assist in solving pending cases.

“These operations are aimed at eradicating the proliferation of illegal firearms and to make the province safer for our citizens. We urge our communities to report all those in possession of unlicensed firearms within their neighbourhoods to the police. The removal of illegal firearms will prevent the unnecessary loss of lives as well as other serious and violent crimes such as taxi related attacks, stock theft and faction fights,” said the KZN Acting Provincial Commissioner, Major General Bheki.

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