Arrests surge as City enforcement agencies seize hidden firearms and intensify operations against gun violence across Cape Town. Arrests by the City of Cape Town’s enforcement agencies surged last week as officers intensified operations against illegal firearms, uncovering weapons concealed in wheelie bins and buried beneath informal structures. A total of 338 arrests were made during the reporting period — a sharp rise from 241 the previous week, while at least five firearms were recovered across the city.
Among the most striking finds was a revolver stashed underground beneath a shack in District Six, and a loaded pistol dumped in a wheelie bin in Hanover Park. The District Six recovery followed a tip-off on January 11, when Freeway Management System camera operators alerted Metro Police to suspicious behaviour behind an informal structure. Initial searches yielded nothing, but with assistance from a South African Police Service K9 unit, officers uncovered a .38 special revolver and four rounds of live ammunition hidden beneath the structure.
Six suspects were arrested. In Hanover Park, LEAP officers responded to two separate shooting-related incidents on Saturday. During the first, at 8.32am, officers found a 9mm pistol with 13 rounds of ammunition discarded in a wheelie bin while canvassing the area.
Read Full Article on Cape Argus
[paywall]
Later that evening, at 7.55pm, officers responding to reports of shots fired arrested a 41-year-old man found in possession of a revolver and live rounds. Mayco Member for Safety and Security JP Smith said the recoveries underscored both progress and persistent challenges. “It’s a new year, but we continue to face many of the same challenges around gun violence and the proliferation of illegal firearms in our city. Every weapon confiscated is potentially a crime, or several crimes prevented and lives saved,” Smith said.
[/paywall]
