Due to reports of rampant criminality at Newcastle, Madadeni and Osizweni, additional resources were deployed in the area to assist police in the Amajuba District to reign in criminals.
Over the past three days, police officers from the Amajuba District together with additional police reinforcements from the Province mounted operations in the three police precincts to deal with wanted criminals, mushrooming liquor outlets and rampant drug use that is contributing to criminality amongst the youth.
The operations, which were held as from 26 November 2020 until the early hours of this 29 November 2020, consisted of roadblocks, stop and searches, drug raids, raids on illegal liquor outlets as well as suspect raids that were conducted to arrest offenders wanted for various crimes.
Two hundred and eleven (211) suspects were arrested for various cases such as robbery, attempted murder, assault, rape, possession of suspected stolen property; possession of drugs as well as illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Four suspects were arrested for malicious damage to property while 27 were arrested for assaults. Five suspects were arrested for attempted murder and 31 people were arrested for being in the country illegally. A number of liquor outlets were visited and were issued with fines for not complying with the liquor act whilst 17 were arrested for dealing in liquor without a licence. Police seized two illegal firearms during the operation. Twelve people were arrested for being in possession of drugs whilst police seized large quantities of dagga, mandrax and cocaine during the operation.
The Minister of Police, General Bheki Cele and KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Khombinkosi Jula also joined the operations to ensure that police officers on the ground were making an impact on the crime and evaluate the effectiveness of the additional deployments. They were pleased with the positive impact that these operations were having on the crime as well as the encouraging feedback from communities.
The KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Khombinkosi Jula was happy with the enthusiasm and determination of police officers at Amajuba. “The communities in Amajuba can expect to see such operations being conducted regularly especially as we are in the midst of our Festive Season Operations. We look forward to the continued support of these communities to deal with the high levels of crime committed by youth in this area,” he said.
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