Pretoria- Police say they are following up on leads to track down one of South Africa’s most wanted criminals who managed to escape when police raided a home in Norwood last night.
Police raided the house following a community tip off and discovered more than 300 guns, ammunition and detonators, a machine used to manufacture ammunition, packaged dagga and explosives used for ATM bombings.
National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega, who visited the house last night, said police found R1 rifles, R4 rifles, R5 rifles, AK-47 rifles and about 300 handguns.
Three people - the owner, his daughter and the domestic helper, aged between 26 and 53 years old - were arrested at the house in the suburb in Johannesburg.
Phiyega said the arrests were an example of what integrated and focused policing can achieve.
“I'm very pleased with the result and I want to encourage them to continue with the hard work.”
Phiyega said she had issued an instruction that Crime Intelligence identify the top 15 syndicates in the country and work together with the detectives and the Hawks to go after these syndicates operating in serious crime such as drugs, cash in transit, human trafficking, money laundering, arms and ammunition.
“Furthermore, I instructed them to also pay close attention to the so called known criminals,” she said.
All provinces were also instructed to draw up a list of top 30 wanted suspects. -SAnews.gov.za
