More than 20 suspects arrested in EC

Twenty one suspects were arrested and almost 300 rounds of ammunition and 31 illegal firearms  were recovered in the Eastern Cape  during the past week.

This according to police who said that 19 suspects were arrested for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition while two more were arrested for pointing of a firearm.

They have appeared in various courts across the province.

In total, 295 rounds of ammunition and 31 illegal firearms, including pistols, rifles and homemade firearms, were recovered. The recovered firearms have been sent for ballistic tests to establish if they were used in any other crimes in the province and/or country.

The suspects are amongst the 1 116 suspects arrested for various crimes across the province. Of this total, 200 suspects were arrested for crimes detected as a result of police action – 166 for drug related crimes and 34 for driving under the influence of alcohol/ drugs.

“I encourage community members to share information about anyone who may have illegal firearms in their communities. Family members who are keeping firearms belonging to deceased relatives must hand them over to the police while making necessary arrangements for new licenses to possess them,” Eastern Cape Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant-General Liziwe Ntshinga said.

“We will continue with our targeted and informed deployment of resources to ensure that those who continue to terrorise innocent people are brought to book.”