Ahead of the annual Safer Festive Season Inspection Tour by the Minister of Police to the Eastern Cape to assess the effectiveness of Safer Festive Season plans put in place to ensure that residents and holiday makers are and feel safe during the holiday season and beyond, 693 rounds of ammunition and 72 firearms (49 revolvers/pistols, 15 rifles and 8 shotguns) were seized while 1 117 suspects were arrested for various crimes from 13 – 21 December 2020.
The suspects include 392 that were arrested for contact crimes, 54 for property related crimes, 234 for crimes detected as a result of police action such as drug-related crimes (136), driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs (51) and possession of suspected stolen property (28) while others were held for many other crimes.
189 Dangerous weapons including 172 knives, 13 pangas and four (4) axes were also recovered.
Furthermore, the stock theft market was dealt a big blow with the recovery of 41 cattle, 22 goats and 19 sheep. 23 suspected stolen vehicles were also confiscated.
All arrested suspects appeared in various courts in the province while others were issued with summons to pay fines.
Eastern Cape Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Liziwe Ntshinga commended the members for the arrests and confiscations. “Eastern Cape has already rolled out the festive season operational plans which are directed into tightening the grip on trio crimes, stock theft, violent crime and the proliferation of unlicensed firearms as well as to see the general safety of all inhabitants throughout the Province. The arrests and confiscations are the results of those well-executed operational plans,” she added.
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