Durban — Three suspects, including a 60-year-old, are expected to appear in a KwaZulu-Natal court following their arrest in two separate incidents. Police also recovered three firearms and ammunition.
SAPS Umzinyathi District spokesperson Constable Siyabonga Nkwanyana said the suspects, aged between 24 and 60, were arrested for the possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition by the Newcastle POP in the Mazabeko area under the Nhlanhleni policing precinct.
In the early hours of Wednesday, an intelligence-driven operation was conducted in the Mazabeko area following information about a wanted suspect in a case of murder that occurred in the Nhlanhleni policing precinct last week, Nkwanyana said.
“On arrival at the identified location the wanted suspect was not found, but two suspects were arrested after being found in possession of one pistol and ammunition each,” Nkwanyana said.
“The operation further proceeded to the next target in the same area where on arrival one suspect was arrested after being found in possession of an unlicensed pistol with ammunition.”
Nkwanyana said all three suspects will appear in the Msinga Magistrate’s Court soon.
Meanwhile, during last week’s countrywide Operation Shanela operations, from August 5 to 11, 98 suspects were arrested for being in the illegal possession of firearms – 24 were arrested in KZN while 22 were arrested in the Western Cape.
“Ninety-nine firearms were confiscated during operations, 20 of them during police operations in KwaZulu-Natal. This is the third consecutive week in which police in KZN recovered a high number of firearms. Last week, KZN police confiscated 47 firearms and in the previous week, from July 21 to July 27, the province seized 40 firearms. In total, 1 466 rounds of ammunition were also confiscated,” said national police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe.
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