Two men were taken into police custody in the Weenen area during the course of the past weekend. They were arrested on firearm- and ammunition-related charges.
A 41-year-old suspect was arrested in the Emanseleni area of Sahlume by officers from the Uthukela Cluster Task Team in the early hours of Friday morning, January 18. The man was found in possession of unlicensed firearms: a .38 revolver and a 6.35 pistol. The revolver was loaded with four rounds of ammunition and the pistol had one round of ammunition in its chamber.
Then, a 55-year-old suspect was arrested by officers from the Pietermaritzburg Public Order Policing (POP) Unit and the Ladysmith Tactical Response Unit. This after the officers sourced valuable information and pounced on the suspect’s home, finding him to be in possession of an unlicensed R5 rifle with its serial number filed off.
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The team confiscated a CZ75 pistol with 17 rounds of ammunition and a shotgun with 10 rounds of ammunition. The firearms were found in a cupboard instead of being in a prescribed gun safe.
The officers were ambushed when they were leaving the premises, but fortunately none of them sustained any injuries during the attack.
Also during the operation, a 12-gauge double-barrel shotgun without a serial number was found abandoned.
The suspects made an appearance in the Weenen Magistrate’s Court on Monday (January 21), facing charges of being in possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition.
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