Over eight hundred suspects arrested during police “New Dawn” operation

POLOKWANE – In a concerted effort by the South African Police Service in Limpopo aged deal head on with all categories of crime throughout the Province, 866 suspects aged between 19 and 51 were arrested for various offences. The arrests were effected during the operation “New Dawn”, conducted since 17 June until Tuesday morning, 25 June 2019, covering all Clusters of the Province.

The operation was conducted by members of various Police Units from the Provincial, Cluster and Station level such as Crime Intelligence, Crime Prevention, the Detectives, the Public Order Police Unit, K9 Unit and the Tactical Response Team (TRT).

These simultaneous operations are aimed at stabilizing and normalizing the crime infested areas, through roadblocks, stop and searches, tracing of wanted suspects and raiding of unlicensed businesses including liquor outlets.

The suspects were arrested for crimes ranging from murder, attempted murder, business and house robbery, armed robbery, burglary residential and business, rape, possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition, possession of drugs and suspected stolen properties, contravention of Immigration Act to driving under the influence of liquor and operating unlicensed liquor outlets.

During these operations, police also issued 1001 traffic fines, closed 08 shebeens and confiscated five cars, computers, 27 knives, 10 firearms, cash amount of money, TVs, cellphones and drugs. The origin of the recovered firearms and other items, will still be determined through the ongoing Police investigations.

The suspects arrested during this operation will appear before various magistrate courts around the Province.