Members of Operation Rhino 7 in Mpumalanga arrested 12 suspects for offences ranging from illegal possession of rifles, firearm, and ammunition and suspected stolen vehicles in the past week.
The suspects, aged between 22 and 35 years, were arrested during an ongoing operation in Skukuza, Acornhoek and Hazyview — in and around the Kruger National Park premises.
Members of Operation Rhino 7 comprises of multidisciplinary police officers who are deployed to root out Rhino poaching and its remnants.
The police confiscated hunting rifles, a revolver, 20 rounds of ammunition, two suspected stolen vehicles and an axe. The rifles and the revolver, whose serial numbers were filed off, will be sent to the SAPS’s Forensic Science Laboratory in Pretoria for ballistic tests to determine if they were used to commit other crimes, while the axe will be sent to forensic experts to determine whether it had been used in illegal poaching incidents.