1 632 arrested by SAPS during Easter period

GA-MAROGA

The joint Easter weekend operations conducted by the SAPS from April 10 to 17, led to the apprehension of 1 632 suspects, aged between 19 and 60, for various offences.
The crimes include the possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition, possession of and dealing in drugs and illicit cigarettes, murder, attempted murder, robberies, burglaries, theft out of motor vehicles and the contravention of the Road Traffic Act.
Members of the highway patrol and Motetema detectives arrested a 31-year-old suspect on April 16 after he had been positively linked to a murder committed on April 13 in Tafelkop.
The suspect was arrested at his house in Makapea Village, and the police confiscated an unlicensed 9mm pistol with ammunition.
“During the same operation, a 23-year-old suspect was arrested in Ga-Maroga Village in the Driekop policing area for possession of illegal explosives that included trunk lines, shock tubes and electric detonators to the estimated street value of R180 000. Furthermore, police recovered nyaope and dagga during the search inside the house,” said the Limpopo SAPS’s spokesperson, Brig Motlafelo Mojapelo.
“A 60-year-old man was arrested for illegal mining when he was caught transporting chrome along the R37 near Ga-Phasha on April 11. The police stopped a white tipper truck that was loaded with chrome. Preliminary police investigations revealed that it was mined at Atok and was being transported to Mecklenburg.”
During the operation, 321 fines were issued for liquor-related offences and 21 shebeens were shut down. The suspects arrested are expected to appear in various magistrate’s courts in Limpopo this week.
The Limpopo police commissioner, Lt Gen Thembi Hadebe, has lauded the successes reached during these operations. He thanked the community members for continuously supporting the SAPS in its fight against all sorts of criminal activities across the province.