Efforts to fight the proliferation of illegal firearms in the Eastern Cape resulted in the recovery of 295 rounds of ammunition and 31 firearms, inclusive of pistols, rifles and homemade firearms, during the past week, the provincial police indicated in a statement today.
Nineteen suspects were arrested for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, while a further two suspects were taken into custody for pointing of a firearm.
They have appeared in various courts across the province. The recovered firearms have been sent for ballistic tests to establish if they were used in any other crimes in the province and/or country.
The suspects are amongst the 1 116 suspects arrested for various crimes across the province during the past week.
Of these 200 suspects were arrested for crimes detected as a result of police action – 166 for drug related crimes and 34 for driving under the influence of alcohol/ drugs.
“We will continue with our targeted and informed deployment of resources to ensure that those who continue to terrorise innocent people are brought to book. I encourage community members to share information about anyone who may have illegal firearms in their communities. Family members who are keeping firearms belonging to deceased relatives must hand them over to the police while making necessary arrangements for new licenses to possess them,” said Eastern Cape Provincial Commissioner, Lt Gen Liziwe Ntshinga.
