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Operation Shanela continues to confiscate firearms in the Eastern Cape

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Operation Shanela is proving to be a successful approach to fight crime in the Eastern Cape province as 36 illegal firearms were confiscated and 765 suspects were nabbed for crimes such as murders, rapes, robberies (business and residential), theft of motor vehicles, possession of illicit drugs, and human trafficking amongst other arrests during the period between 26 August and 01 September 2024

The intensity of these weekly operations is bearing positive results, especially when it comes to the recoveries of unlicensed firearms. Out of 36 confiscated illegal firearms in the province, The Nelson Mandela District recorded 22 firearms recovered for the period, and with OR Tambo recording 8 firearms.

The integrated crime fighting efforts with the assistance from other law enforcement agencies is having an impact in the province, with 65 987 recorded actions that were executed by foot soldiers, and with 38 high density operations that were conducted in the province. Some of the notable operations:

· Vehicle checkpoints manned – 661

· Roadblocks manned – 36

· Tracking operations – 52

· Number of people searched – 21 647

· Licenced liquor outlets checked for compliance – 1 679

Notable arrests:

· Contravening the Firearms Control Act – 23

· Illegal possession of firearms – 36

· Illegal possession of ammunition – 12

· Dealing in illicit drugs – 33

· Possession of drugs – 106

· Selling liquor without licence (fines) – 20

· Murder – 22

· Drunk driving – 22

· Assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm – 186

· Assault common – 79

· Human trafficking – 09

· Illegal immigrants – 09

Members in partnership with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment managed to clamp down on abalone poachers, and recovered 261 abalone units. Police also seized 558 litres of liquor from the two shebeens that were closed.

Provincial Commissioner, Lt Gen Nomthetheleli Mene said, “We are making huge strides in fighting crime in the province, but we are also aware of the major challenge in the province, and that is to win the fight against incidents of extortion, which are commonly known as “protection fees”. We are appealing to residents to report these incidents on our Provincial Extortion hotline number 082 387 1561″, added Lt Gen Mene

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