Nelspruit

With recent successes in arresting members of organised criminal syndicates and gangs, the South African Police Service (SAPS) has demonstrated its commitment and dedication to fighting serious and violent crimes.

This is according to SAPS National Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, who briefed the media on Thursday.

“We are responding decisively to the war declared by criminals and we remain resolute in our efforts to fight crime and anyone who threatens the safety and security of law abiding citizens and have thus adopted an aggressive approach in ensuring that we stamp the authority of the state,” Masemola said in Johannesburg. 

Providing an update on the countrywide police operations, Masemola said the recent successes in crime fighting shows that police are tightening their grip on serious and violent crime, thus putting them one step ahead of criminals.

“Through our high density operations that sees the Provincial Commissioner of each province actively taking part and leading operations on the ground, we have been able to secure the arrest of 766 237 suspects for various crimes. 

“These include 161 752 wanted suspects for priority crimes, including murder, cash-in-transit armed robberies, sexual offences, rape, car hijacking and firearm-related offences.

“We have established and beefed up cash-in-transit task teams, particularly in the Eastern Cape, where a number of them have been recorded in the month of July. In the past month alone, 13 cash in transit robbers were arrested in the province while six suspects were fatally wounded during confrontation with police,” Masemola said.

The police have also registered a breakthrough with the arrest of at least ten suspects linked to ATM bombings in Gauteng. 

Eight of the suspects were intercepted in Katlehong, Thokoza, and Soweto in Gauteng while another two were traced to Senekal in the Free State. 

“These arrests were effected with the assistance of our partners in the banking sector and key stakeholders in the fight against crime. These suspects are being linked to more than 20 ATM bombings that took place in Soweto and the East Rand,” he said.

Furthermore, a gang of 44 suspects were intercepted by Gauteng police three weeks ago at a liquor warehouse in Kempton Park. 

“The suspects were caught in the act of loading alcohol worth R15 million into four different trucks. The suspects have already appeared before the Kempton Park Magistrate Court on a charge of business robbery,” the National Commissioner said.

Drug busts

In the last two weeks, a clandestine drug lab worth R2 billion was shut down in Limpopo where two Mexican nationals are among the five suspects arrested. 

“In the Western Cape, R252 million worth of cocaine was seized at a roadblock in Stillbaai. A Russian national is among two suspects arrested in this case. In the same week, police also seized R40 million worth of dagga in Magaliesburg here in Gauteng.

“Mpumalanga has also registered a number of successes in relation to major drug busts. Between May and June this year, R4 million worth of dagga, R4 million worth of cocaine and R4 million worth of Crystal meth was seized in different parts of the province, including Nelspruit and Komatipoort.

“We have destroyed large quantities of drugs worth R2 billion in 12 months. These include cocaine, crystal meth and unregistered medicines. Through Operation Shanela, 21 161 criminals were arrested for dealing in drugs while 64 351 were arrested for being in possession of drugs,” the National Commissioner said.

The ongoing gang related violence in the Eastern and Western Cape and Gauteng continues to receive priority with the deployment of the Anti Gang Unit and specialised units in identified hotspots. 

“Dedicated interventions are continuing and several gang leaders and members have been arrested in the past six months. These include 64 gang members arrested in Westbury. Thirty-four of them belong to the Fast gang group that were operating in Westbury, Langlaagte and Eldorado Park. During this period, 36 gang members from the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Kwazulu-Natal and Limpopo were convicted to a collective 350 year’s imprisonment,” he said.

In the last seven days, 106 firearms were confiscated during operations across the country. Forty of these firearms were seized in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Of the 106 firearms, 90 are hand guns, eight are homemade firearms, seven are rifles while one shotgun was seized.

In two years, more than 20 000 firearms have been seized from all corners of the country.

“In the Western Cape where we experience a lot of firearm related gang violence, 3100 firearms have been confiscated to date while in Gauteng, 673 firearms have been seized during tracing operations during a 12 month period,” he said. - SAnews.gov.za

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