A clandestine operation was conducted during the early hours of Sunday, 15 October, leading to the arrest of seven Nigerian nationals for conspiracy to commit murder.
It is alleged that the suspects conspired to kill certain police officials in Upington as they were posing a threat to their drug trafficking business, stated Sgt Omphile Masegela, police spokesperson in the ZF Mgcawu District.
The men are allegedly known for drug trafficking in Upington and surrounding areas. It also became known after their arrests that they do not have legal documentation and are in contravention of the Immigration Act.
The seven men, aged between 34 and 45 years old, were arrested. More charges in line with the Immigration Act will be added to the existing charge.
The investigator received information, followed it up and preliminary investigations were conducted, followed by the operation of members of the Upington Border Policing assisted by the Northern Cape Tactical Response Team.
The suspects were expected to appear in the Upington Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 16 October.
Successes ongoing
Also, during the past week the police in the Northern Cape achieved several successes due to Operation Shanela, its multi-disciplinary high-density operation.
A total of 9 116 actions were executed, with emphasis on illegal firearms, murders, damage to essential infrastructure, crimes committed against women and children, house robbery, housebreaking and aggravating robbery, said Col. Cherelle Ehlers of the police’s media relations.
The actions included the searching of persons and vehicles during stop and search actions and high visibility patrols; at vehicle check points and roadblocks; the tracing of wanted suspects; compliance inspections at liquor outlets, second-hand goods dealers and scrapyards; compliance inspections at firearm dealers; and visits to spaza shops and farms.
The efforts emitted a total of 172 arrests for various crimes, including dealing in drugs, illegal dealing in liquor, possession of drugs, robbery with aggravating circumstances, attempted murder, assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm (GBH), common assault, burglary, theft of or from a motor vehicle, malicious damage to property, as well as illicit mining and illegal migration.
Detectives also traced and arrested 119 wanted suspects in connection with crimes including business robbery, murder, rape, and assault GBH.
During the execution of the operation, items including liquor, cash, cellphones, computers, copper cable, counterfeit goods, dangerous weapons and drugs were confiscated.
For this operation, members of the police joined forces with members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), the Traffic Department, as well as the Department of Home Affairs and Transport.
The Northern Cape provincial commissioner, Lt. Gen. Koliswa Otola, encouraged police management of the district and the province to reinforce efforts and to continue eradicating crime in the province.
Otola also expressed her appreciation towards all officers and members who contributed towards the success of the operation.
