A firearm seized during a search in Grahamstown last weekend was stolen from the police earlier this year.
SAPS spokesperson Captain Mali Govender said on Saturday night 22 July, members of the SAPS Grahamstown Operational Command Centre conducted a search in a house in Vukani, following information they’d received. They found a male suspect inside the house and a Lorcin Walter 7.65 with an identifiable serial number and 13 rounds of ammunition.
“During further investigations it was established that this firearm was stolen from Peddie Police Station in March 2017,” Govender said.
The 26-year-old man was arrested for possession of an unlicensed firearm and possession of ammunition. He will appear in the Grahamstown Magistrate’s court this week.
“The proliferation of illegal firearms is one of our National Priorities and a strong and stable informer network assists in the combating of crime,” Govender said.
In another firearms arrest not necessarily related, police on patrol in Jeffreys Bay spotted a vehicle driving suspiciously around 5.45pm yesterday, Sunday 23 July. Upon searching the white VW Golf, members discovered three unlicensed firearms (two 9mm pistols and one revolver with ammunition). The two suspects, ages 26 and 32, were arrested and detained on charges including the illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, and conspiracy to commit a crime. The two suspects are due to appear in the Humansdorp Magistrate’s Court tomorrow, Tuesday, 25 July 2017.
In a third incident, officers from the Humansdorp Operational Command Centre were patrolling Donkerhoek, Arcadia, at 10pm, when a man walking suspiciously in the street threw something on the ground. The officers discovered a 9mm firearm and ammunition. The suspect, in his 30s, was detained on a charge of illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition and is also due to appear tomorrow in the Humansdorp Magistrate’s Court, Tuesday, 25 July 2017, on these charges.
