The accused, Paul Jacobus Notnagel (58) appeared before the Kroonstad District Court on 14 October 2021, where he faced charges of possession of prohibited firearms.
This comes after the Hawks’ National Priority Violent Crimes (NPVC) based in Bloemfontein together with their counterparts from Welkom and Pretoria as well as SAPS Ballistics Unit conducted an operation on Monday, 11 October 2021 where they visited a Gunsmith and a Firearm dealer in Kroonstad which was identified as a gunsmith that specialises on illegal barrel changing in contravention with the Firearms Control Act.
During the search of the premises, all registers and firearms were inspected.
Police discovered 235 altered firearms (Rifle) barrels, four sets of steel stamp stencils, a shotgun which was reported to be stolen in Norwood case.
All firearms and barrels were seized during the operation and Notnagel was arrested. He was released on a R10 000-00 bail and the case was remanded to 11 January 2022 for further investigation.
