Gun found inside shop, owner arrested
A tip-off led police to finding a loaded 9mm firearm hidden inside a New Brighton Spaza shop.
A spaza shop owner was arrested on Tuesday night after police found a suspected stolen gun inside the shop.
Police spokesperson Captain Andre Beetge said that members attached to the Motherwell cluster operational command centre received a tip-off of a gun being hidden inside the shop in Avenue A, New Brighton.
“A team of police officials went to the shop and began a search. The firearm, a pistol with 8 rounds of ammunition, was found hidden under one of the bread crates in the shop.
Beetge said that the 24-year-old foreign shop owner was arrested at 8.30pm. “The firearm has been sent for ballistic testing to determine if it has been used in any other crimes.”
Beetge added the serial number had been removed making it difficult for them to establish the firearm’s origin.
“Our experts will be testing the weapon and looking into where and when the gun was stolen,” he said.