South Africa: Operation Shanela Nets Over 5000 in KZN

Over 5000 suspects have been arrested for various crimes while 105 unlicensed firearms were recovered in the month of September, said KwaZulu-Natal police.

In a statement, the South African Police Service (SAPS), said that of the 5 527 suspects that were arrested across the province, 1 464 were arrested for contact crimes of which 730 of them were arrested for assault with an intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

A total of 85 individuals were arrested for murder, and 93 suspects were arrested for attempted murder cases.

"These arrests and recoveries are a culmination of relentless operations conducted by various police units in specified policing precincts. One of the key objectives of Operation Shanela is to tackle areas which have shown an increase in crime volumes," the SAPS said in a statement on Wednesday.

Drugs were also recovered in the police operations.

"During these operations, those who deal in narcotics did not escape the police radar as a total of 921 suspects were arrested and drugs were recovered in the process. Police also arrested 51 suspects for being in possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition.

"The arrested suspects have appeared in various courts in the province, however the work of the police teams in Operation Shanela II does not end with the arrests of the suspects and recovery of exhibits."

The police added that "frantic work is on-going" behind the scenes in trying to establish possible links of the arrested suspects with other crimes.

"The firearms recovered will also be subjected to ballistics tests to determine if they have not been used in the commission of other crimes," the police said.

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