A series of multidisciplinary operations targeting individual crimes on specific days of the week saw police in KwaZulu-Natal nab over 8 000 suspects, as the province confronts lawlessness head-on.
In a statement, provincial police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Nqobile Gwala, said operations have been conducted in all districts across the province and will continue “as long as criminals engulf our neighbourhoods”.
“During these operations, police utilise various operational concepts such as roadblocks, stop and searches, raids on drug dens, as well as liquor outlets and suspect raids.
“Compliance inspections are carried out on specific entities that are contributing to our crime picture, such as second hand dealers, scrap yards and pawn shops,” said Gwala.
Between 1 and 28 February 2022, police officers across the province arrested 8 628 persons for various crimes.
A total of 2 681 arrests were made for contact crimes. The contact crimes arrests included 139 arrests for murder, 261 for robbery, 209 for rape, 1 780 for assault, as well as 108 for trio crimes (carjacking, house robbery and business robbery). A total of 352 arrests were made for property crimes such as burglary, theft of vehicles and stock theft.
Gwala said dangerous weapons, large quantities of drugs, liquor and counterfeit goods were seized by police during the operations.
A total of 1 839 suspects were arrested for drug related offences and 716 were arrested for liquor related offences in KwaZulu-Natal during this period, while 443 suspects were arrested for driving under the influence of liquor.
Police seized 273 illegal firearms, with 3 269 various rounds of ammunition in operations during the same period. All firearms seized will be subjected to ballistic testing to determine if they were used in any other crime.
Gwala said the increased involvement of communities in community policing forums and other legal crime fighting groups is most welcome, as vigilance is key to breaking the back of crime syndicates.
“During this period, many criminal groups were intercepted by police and security companies as they were prowling the streets with the intention of committing crimes.
“We also urge citizens to continue providing tip-offs to police on criminal activities by contacting your local police stations, as well as Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or by reporting via the MYSAPS App,” she said.