By: Xolani Khumalo
The South African Police Service (SAPS) says it has intensified its nationwide Operation Shanela crackdown targeting organised criminal networks involved in illicit trade, drug trafficking, illegal immigration and other serious and violent crimes.
Intelligence-driven operations conducted across the country last week resulted in the arrest of 17,587 suspects. Among those arrested were 2,549 wanted suspects linked to serious and violent crimes.
Police spokesperson Vincent Mukhathi says the arrests form part of ongoing efforts to combat criminal activity and improve public safety in communities across the country.
Mukhathi adds that police also confiscated 127 unlicensed firearms during the operations. The recovered weapons are expected to undergo ballistic testing to determine whether they were used in the commission of crimes.
Operation Shanela remains one of SAPS’s key crime-fighting initiatives, combining intelligence-led policing, high-density operations and coordinated law enforcement actions to disrupt criminal networks and remove dangerous weapons from communities.
