With information received from our communities, the following successes were achieved: Seven suspects were arrested for illegal possession of unlicensed firearms, eight were found to be illegally in possession of ammunition, 20 suspects were arrested for malicious damage to property and 22 for burglaries, seven for attempted murder and 11 for murder while 10 people were arrested for rape.
Sting operations falling under “Shanela” led to the arrest of a 21-year-old in Welkom after police discovered boxes of illicit cigarettes worth an estimated R900 000 at the back of his truck in State Way. The suspect was arrested for possession of illicit goods.
Arrests were also made during police actions, and that includes 24 people who were found to be driving while under the influence, 57 undocumented persons and 134 more people who were nabbed for assaults. In addressing drug-related crimes, 41 suspects were arrested and drugs such as mandrax, crystal meth, nyaope and dagga were confiscated. This is also done through intelligence-driven operations and community tip-offs. Scrapyard operators and second-hand goods owners’ premises were visited for compliance inspection and some owners were warned after they were found not booking items correctly.
A total of six suspects were arrested in Bloemfontein for impersonating police officials after a SAPS detective reflector jacket was found in their vehicle when their vehicle was stopped at a stop-and-go. Upon searching the vehicle, three unlicensed firearms were also found. All six were arrested for possession of an unlicensed firearm and impersonating a police official.
Detective services continued with their tracking and tracing operations, led by crime intelligence. Through this initiative, more than 496 suspects wanted for crimes such as murder, rape, malicious damage to property and robbery were arrested.