GRAAFF-REINET – Four men were arrested on Saturday evening, 29 November, after members of the South African Police Service’s Crime Intelligence in the Western Cape conveyed information to SAPS in the Eastern Cape.
The information concerned unlicensed firearms and ammunition being transported in a white VW Polo.
According to Captain Marius McCarthy, Communication Officer for SAPS in the Sarah Baartman District, the white VW Polo from Vredenburg was said to be in transit to the Eastern Cape.
Members attached to the Sarah Baartman District Task Team operationalised the information and at about 20:35 a vehicle fitting the description was intercepted in Parsonage Street, Graaff-Reinet.
The vehicle was searched, and police found a plastic container with 17 live rounds of ammunition inside the glove box.
They also found two unlicensed 9mm pistols with ammunition stashed inside the pockets of a navy jacket that was hanging on the driver’s headrest.
In addition to this, a plastic bag with 47 rounds of ammunition was found inside the navy jacket.
The four occupants of the vehicle were arrested and charged with possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition – two counts – and police confiscated the firearms and ammunition, as well as the vehicle, for further investigation.
McCarthy stated that detectives are currently processing and profiling the four men, and that there is a possible linkage to at least one serious crime in the Western Cape.
He confirmed that the suspects, aged between 32 and 35, are due to appear before the Graaff-Reinet Magistrate’s Court soon.
“The relentless efforts of the South African Police Service to combat the proliferation of illegal firearms have once again yielded positive results,” McCarthy concluded.
