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The police in Gqeberha have identified at least two firearm dealers as the main source of availing guns to criminals in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro, including the Northern Areas.
A police team led by the Acting District Commissioner, Brigadier Ronald Koll visited the premises of a Gqeberha dealer on Monday after a number of firearms which were supposed to be in their custody were found on the streets.
Police Spokesperson, Colonel Priscilla Naidu, says 24 counts of negligent loss of firearm cases were opened against the owner after he could not account for the firearms.
Naidu says some of the weapons retrieved are linked to serious crimes and were found in the possession of well-known gangsters.
“None of these firearms have been reported lost or stolen by the company."
She says a full audit is now underway to determine how many firearms have found their way from the dealer to the streets as well as how exactly it was taken out and who are the culprits behind such criminal intent.
The owner has been ordered to refrain from selling firearms until further notice and his fitness to continue working as a gun dealer will be investigated.
She says the same dealer had previously been robbed of 18 firearms at its store and the bulk of it has still not yet been recovered.
“It is also alleged that these stolen firearms were stored at another dealership in Gqeberha for safekeeping as space was rented due to insufficient storage space at the present dealership. Allegations are that these firearms found their way into the hands of criminals from the rented dealership.”
Meanwhile, Acting District Commissioner Brigadier Koll said that the police would continue to act against gun dealers who are negligent as guns eventually end up in the hands of gangsters and criminals who daily terrorise our communities and destroy the lives of innocent people.
“Failure to report missing firearms from their arsenal results in gross negligence and is criminal.”
He says: “This is only the tip of the iceberg and we will be conducting investigations at other dealerships as we suspect that there could be more firearms from gun dealers in the wrong hands.”
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