The police in Limpopo have arrested 1 022 undocumented foreigners for contravening the country’s immigration laws.
A further 1 130 people were also nabbed for various crimes during joint police operations conducted throughout August. Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo said the developments are part of efforts to deal with crime and to enforce immigration laws across the province.
“The 1 130 suspects were arrested for various crimes that included murder, attempted murder, rape and other sexual offences, armed robbery, possession of illicit cigarettes, possession of illegal firearms and ammunition, theft of motor vehicles, possession of suspected stolen properties, and drug dealing,” said Mojapelo.
Mojapelo added that the joint operations also seized firearms and ammunition, stolen vehicles, drugs including crystal meth and CAT, dagga, nyaope, illicit cigarettes and 18 dagga plants.
The joint operations involved the Limpopo highway patrol, tactical response team, crime intelligence, provincial organised crime, detectives from provincial, district and station level, as well as members attached to police stations across the province.
Provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Thembi Hadebe commended the police teams for their relentless efforts and persistence to rid the province of crime.
“As we are in women’s month, policewomen at all levels of command are also busy with Operation Basadi, which is simultaneously conducted alongside the ongoing operations. Some of these arrests and confiscations are attributable to the women in blue.”
The suspects, aged between 19 and 61, have started to appear in different magistrate’s courts around the province and the joint police operations are continuing.
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