The MEC of Community Safety, Albert Fritz, today welcomes reports of enforcement activities by the Law Enforcement Advancement Programme.
On Saturday, 16 October 2021, LEAP and SAPS were executing a joint operation in the Scottsdene area in Kraaifontein on the basis of search warrants issued in respect of houses in which drugs are being stored and sold. During the operation, 90 full Mandrax tablets were discovered, as well as a large, undisclosed quantity of dagga. A male on the premises was arrested.
In a separate incident last week, a male suspect was arrested in Tafelsig for being in possession of 15 Mandrax half-tablets, 12 heroin straws and five bankies of tik.
In a separate incident, officers on patrol in Bishop Lavis noticed a vehicle with three male occupants at around 03:25. As the vehicle was out after curfew, officers approached the vehicle and asked if they could search the vehicle. After searching the vehicle, fourteen 9mm rounds of live ammunition was found tied up in a sock. The suspect was arrested and detained at Bishop Lavis Police Station.
According to the most recent weekly reports on LEAP activities, a total of 6935 persons were searched in the crime hotspots in the Metro, including 1134 in Nyanga, 895 in Philippi, 781 in Mitchells Plain and 817 in Delft. A total of 253 houses were searched, and 536 vehicles were searched in 22 roadblocks. These figures cover a seven-day period.
107 people were arrested over the period, including 63 for possession of drugs, 19 for possession of a dangerous weapon; and eight for possession of prohibited or illegal firearm and ammunition. Six firearms, 24 lives rounds of ammunition, 13 knives, a panga and a hammer were also confiscated, as well as 19 full tablets, 37 half tablets, 11 quarter tablets and 5 crushed tablets of Mandrax. 37 packets and one parcel of dagga; 43 packets of tik; 16 straws and ten units of heroin were also confiscated.
MEC Fritz said, “we continue to work in service of our communities. We are working to enhance visible policing. We are working to reinforce the perception that when you commit crime there are consequences for your actions. We saw illegal firearms confiscated, and the confiscation of illegal guns and ammunition is a real success because every single confiscation of an illegal gun means that a number of violent crimes have been averted.”
MEC Fritz concluded, “We can avert crimes when we arrest suspects, confiscate illegal firearms and take drugs off the streets. These successes are therefore crucially important. And so I want to thank our LEAP Officers for their service; for working to ensure that our communities are safer. Keep up the good work.”
Source: Government of South Africa