A five-day cross border operation in three provinces this week resulted in thousands of vehicles and people being searched, scores of arrests, and the seizure of drugs and other goods worth millions of rand, Northern Cape police said on Saturday.
The operation between police in the Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, and Western Cape was intended to address crimes cutting across the three provinces, including drugs, illegal dealing in non-ferrous metal, motor vehicle theft, and a number of other crimes, Lt-Col Dimakatso Mooi said.
“Resources such as personnel, vehicles, and different types of equipment from the three provinces were put to use into this operation to help deal with these prevalent crimes affecting these provinces.”
Thousands of vehicles and people were searched and resulted in swift arrests and issuing of fines to different offenders who committed various crimes. “Some were wanted suspects while some had illegal substances such as dagga and different types of drugs.”
Most were apprehended on the national roads, including the N1 and N12, while those wanted were arrested at their hideouts in Springbok in the Northern Cape and Mossel Bay in the Western Cape.
“The greatest highlight of the operation was the arrest of three bus occupants – a 31-year-old male Swazi national for possession of more than R44,000 worth of ‘Swazi Gold’ dagga and two coloured females aged 28 and 29 for possession of Mandrax tablets worth R2 million in the Greater Karoo area on Thursday… in the morning. An additional charge of bribery was instituted against the male passenger after he tried to bribe one of the officers with an amount of R800. They were all on their way from Johannesburg and were headed for Cape Town,” Mooi said.
The operation saw a total of 134 people arrested for various crimes ranging from contravention of the Immigration Act to possession of firearms without a license. More than 3000 vehicles, 3000 people, and 285 premises were searched in the three provinces.
Three .38 special revolvers and ammunition were recovered from three suspects in the Eastern Cape. They were all arrested and charged with possession of a firearm without a license. One stolen Opel Corsa bakkie was also recovered in the Western Cape during the arrest of a suspect found in possession of Mandrax tablets and “huge amounts of cash”, and it also led to the seizure of a trailer used in the commission of a crime.
“Dagga weighing more than 24,221,485 grams was seized in the three provinces… Some offenders were only issued with fines for crimes such as violations of traffic legislation. More than 160 fines were issued across the three provinces during the operation, Mooi said.
Some of the suspects arrested had already made their first appearance in court, while some would appear next week in the three respective provinces.
“While it is the primary responsibility of the South African Police Service [SAPS] to combat crime in its entirety, they can never achieve this mandate without the help of other government departments and stakeholders. The different units within the police, such as the K9 [unit], stock theft [unit], tactical response team, detectives, public order police, highway patrol, flying squad, and other units from the three provinces successfully worked with the other departments that included the department of home affairs and traffic officials from municipal and provincial offices.
“The impact brought by this highly intensified and intelligence-driven operation was greatly appreciated by the three provincial [police] commissioners, who are tasked with protecting the citizens of this country in the Eastern, Northern and Western Cape. All of them applauded the zeal and enthusiasm shown by the members of the SAPS and other departments throughout the entire operation,” Mooi said.
– African News Agency (ANA)
