EASTERN CAPE | AUTHORITIES IN OR TAMBO TACKLE CRIME HEAD ON WITH 7 ARRESTS

 Operation Sikhona is yielding positive results, as seven (07) people were nabbed for possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition in OR Tambo District during last week operations.

The intelligence driven operations started from Monday, 27 February until Tuesday, 07 March, of which its main aim was to curb the proliferation of illegal firearms and simultaneously combat incidents of mass shootings in OR Tambo District.

 In some instances search warrants were executed and in one, information was intercepted of a vehicle that was traveling with unlicensed firearms. 

Several houses were targeted, and the following successes were recorded:

- A house in Jambeni Section in Lusikisiki was raided and searched, where a 9mm pistol with live rounds of ammunition were seized. A 63-year-old man was arrested.

- Police also recovered a 9mm pistol with ammunition from a house in Lusikisiki, where a 37-year-old man was arrested.

- Two men aged 34 and 37, who were traveling in a Nissan NP 300 on the R411 near Kwaaiman were nabbed for possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition. Police recovered a shotgun hidden behind a seat and a pistol from one of the occupants.

- A house in Mhlakulo Location in Lower Ngwara A/A was raided and searched, where a 9mm Norinco was recovered and a 26-year-old man was arrested for being in possession of an unlicensed firearm.

- Police also swooped in on a house in Diya Street, Slovo Park (Mthatha), where two (02) magazines of a R5 rifle were seized with ammunition. A 40-year-old man was arrested for possession of unlicensed ammunition.

Acting Provincial Commissioner, Major General Zithulele Dladla lauded members for their successful operations, and added that, "We are going to intensify these operations and also infiltrate  into other problematic districts in order  to remove firearms , which are in the hands of wrong people. We also urge family relatives to voluntarily hand over firearms that were previously owned by their deceased relatives to the nearest police station.  We noticed that in some of the houses that were raided, police seized several firearms, whose owners died long time ago, and those were seized without arresting anyone, added Maj Gen Dladla

SAPS