Operation Shanela nets over 15 000 suspects

The South African Police Service (SAPS) has arrested 15 298 suspects through Operation Shanela.

The arrests were made between Monday, 21 October and Sunday, 27 October. The recorded arrests are 2 479 more than the previous week.

Operation Shanela includes tracking operations, roadblocks, high visibility patrols, stop and searches, as well as tracing of wanted suspects.

All Shanela operations are led by the Provincial Commissioner of each province.

The following arrests were made:

•  3 015 wanted suspects were arrested, representing 1 042 more wanted suspects behind bars than the previous week. These suspects were wanted for various crimes such as murder, attempted murder, rape, business and house robberies.
• 146 suspects were arrested for murder. The majority of these suspects were arrested in the Eastern Cape (37), followed by Gauteng (33) and the Western Cape (30).
• 74 suspects were arrested for attempted murder.
• 213 suspects were arrested for rape. KwaZulu-Natal arrested the majority of these suspects (89 arrests).
• 1 380 suspects were arrested for assault GBH [grievous bodily harm] during this period.
• 197 drug dealers were arrested.
• 1 314 suspects were arrested for being in possession of drugs, with 646 of these suspects being arrested in the Western Cape.
•  123 suspects were arrested for being in the illegal possession of firearms. The majority of these suspects were arrested in the Western Cape (36), followed by KwaZulu-Natal (27) and Eastern Cape (24).
• 492 suspects were arrested for illegally dealing in liquor, with Mpumalanga arresting 124, while KwaZulu-Natal arrested 123 suspects.
• 478 drivers were arrested for drunken driving. The majority of these suspects were arrested in Gauteng (110), followed by the Western Cape (89).

Under recoveries and confiscations, police registered the following successes:

• 132 firearms were confiscated in the past week; 26 handguns were confiscated during police operations in the Western Cape; 23 were confiscated in KwaZulu-Natal, while 19 were confiscated in the Eastern Cape.
•  3 443 rounds of ammunition were confiscated.
•  78 hijacked and stolen vehicles were also recovered, which is 21 more vehicles recovered during