The South African Police Service in Limpopo continued with the intelligence driven joint operations in its quest for a zero tolerance approach to criminal activities in the province.
The simultaneous operations comprising of members from several Police Units which were conducted until the morning of 18 april 2021, have resulted in the arrest of 1049 suspects aged between 15 and 74 for various offences such as possession of unlicensed firearms, possession and dealing in drugs, illegal mining, possession of illicit cigarettes, armed robberies, possession of endangered species, sexual offences including the contravention of the Road Traffic Act to burglaries.
In the Gravelotte Policing area outside Phalaborwa, the Police arrested four suspects aged between 31 and 74 for Possession of pangolin at one of the local petrol stations. The arrest follows information from members of the community about the existence of these suspects who were travelling in a Ford Ranger and a Hyundai vehicles, selling one live pangolin. One pangolin and two cars were confiscated.
Meanwhile, Members of the SAPS Limpopo Highway Patrol Team (LHP) bust eight suspects for illegal mining at Xamfana village in the Giyani policing area of the Mopani District. The police intercepted these suspects while they were in transit and recovered different assortment of the mining equipment. The suspects were found to be illegal immigrants.
Whereas, in the Apel Policing area of the Sekhukhune District, the LHP arrested a 31-year-old man along the R37 road transporting chrome with horse and trailer truck. The driver (suspect) failed to produce the necessary documents of being in possession and transporting the chrome. The chrome is estimated to be over R100 000-00 (one hundred thousand rands).
In the Mahwelereng policing area outside Mokopane, a 41-year-old woman was arrested by the LHP for dealing in dagga. The police followed this information and the suspect was found in possession of 10 x sachets of dagga, 03 x matchboxes of dagga and a plastic bag with loose dagga.
In another drug related incident, two suspects aged between 37 and 43 were arrested by the LHP in the Polokwane CBD, along Paul Kruger Street and police recovered 8 x sachets of crystal meth drugs and 02 x sachets of cat drugs.
In the Westenburg policing area, five suspects were arrested for theft out of motor vehicle and possession of suspected stolen properties and police recovered two laptops, two laptop chargers, two laptop bags, two gate remote controls and several other accessories belonging to SASSA, following an incident where a SASSA motor vehicle was broken in.
The Police confiscated various items during these operations such as follows:
19 842 sticks of counterfeit cigarettes, 6 motor vehicles, 10 firearms, 2 laptops and their accessories, 40 dangerous weapons including knives, 21 533 grams of dagga, 40 grams of dagga plants, 38 grams of crystal meth, 0.4 grams of nyaope drugs, 40 3855 ml of liquor and 978 fines were issued for the contravention of the Road Traffic Act.
The arrested suspects during these operations are expected to appear before different magistrate’s courts across the province soon.
The Provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service in Limpopo Lieutenant General Nneke Ledwaba commends the Police for their endless efforts in dealing with criminal activities in the province and he also praised members of the community for continuously providing the police with positive and valuable information that contributed in these milestone achievements.
