During Safer Festive Season operations conducted across KwaZulu-Natal last week, police seized an assortment of illegal firearms and ammunition which were removed from our communities.
These operations were conducted between 22 October 2017 until 28 October 2017 where a total of 225 illegal firearms were seized as police stepped up into high gear ahead of the festive season. The firearms that were seized by police included AK47 rifles, shotguns, homemade firearms, 303 rifles, pistols and revolvers.
A total of 1289 rounds of ammunition of various calibers, was also recovered during these operations.
Police concentrated their intelligence driven operations in Greytown, Kranskop, KwaDukuza, Umhlali and Nsuze while operations were conducted in other parts of the province.
All seized firearms will be subjected to ballistic testing to establish if they were used in the commission of crimes within the boundaries of the country. During these actions which form part of the SAPS Safer Festive Season operations, police arrested a total of 247 suspects for possession of illegal firearms and ammunition. They have appeared in various courts across the province for their crimes.
The KwaZulu-Natal Acting Provincial Commissioner, Major General Bheki Langa congratulated police officers from across the province for seizing such a large quantity of illegal firearms and ammunition within a short period of time. “We have stepped up our operations targeting illegal firearms and we will ensure that we sustain these operations ahead of the festive season. These weapons kill many of our citizens and are used in many crimes across the province including for the killing of rivals in various sectors of our communities. We wish to thanks those law abiding citizens that continue to play a pivotal role in fighting crime by contacting police with information of criminal activities,” he said.
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