Police operations result in over 2 000 arrests in 13 days
Among the arrested suspects was six people who were involved in a shooting incident over illicit cigarettes along the N1 north.
LIMPOPO – Provincial police on Wednesday announced that more than 2 000 people have been arrested this month during ongoing joint operations.
These weekly joint operations are conducted across all five districts in an effort to rid the province of any form of criminality, said police spokesperson Brig Motlafela Mojapelo.
“The latest operations were conducted from October 1 until October 13 and resulted in the arrest of 2 122 people.” He added that the arrested culprits are aged between 18 and 64 and face charges related to murder, robbery, rape, sexual assault, possession of illicit cigarettes, possession and dealing in drugs, stock theft and theft of a motor vehicle, among others.
The police recovered 67 454 counterfeit cigarettes, 41 dangerous weapons, 611g dagga, five dagga plants, 1,1g nyaope, 13 firearms, 1 070 343ml liquor, 61 knives, eight stolen or robbed vehicles, during these operations.
Some of the suspects have already started appearing in the various magistrate’s courts around the province.
He highlighted a few of the operational successes:
In the Vhembe district, the police arrested six people after a shooting incident along the N1 north road near the Witvlag turnoff.
Mojapleo explained that on October 6 the Makhado police received information about suspects, believed to be cigarette smugglers, who were shooting at each other along the N1 north road.
“It is alleged that occupants from a BMW sedan were shooting at the occupants in a Nissan bakkie in an attempt to stop it. Police responded and found two foreign nationals from the said bakkie who indicated to the officers that they had been shot at by the people in the BMW and also robbed of some of the illicit cigarettes that were in their possession.”
On the scene, the police found 28 cartons of Express Royals cigarettes. They confiscated the illicit goods, the vehicle and R7 740 cash before they arrested the suspects, Mojapelo said.
He explained that incident was followed up on and the four occupants from the sedan were arrested along the Witvlag road after a high-speed car chase and shoot-out with the police.
“R1 700 cash, nine cellphones and the sedan were also seized on the scene.” Of the six suspects arrested, the two foreign nationals face charges related to the possession of illicit cigarettes while the remaining four face added charges of attempted murder.
They have since appeared in the local magistrate’s court, and the court outcome is not yet known.
In the Waterberg district, the police arrested 10 suspects for a robbery at a farm outside Bela-Bela. The incident happened on October 12 and the suspects were arrested during a joint police operation along the N1 south.
Read more here:
https://www.citizen.co.za/review-online/517789/wheel-thieves-caught-after-high-speed-vehicle-chase-along-n1/
Provincial police commissioner Lt Genl Thembi Hadebe expressed her gratitude and appreciation to the men and women in blue for their sterling work. “We urge the members to continue with the good work in ensuring that criminals are hunted down and brought to book,” she said.
