More than 3 000 already arrested in festive season ops

By Monday this week, the Limpopo police had already arrested more than 3 000 suspects as part of their provincial festive season operations, which kicked off on 4 November.

The suspects were arrested for various offences, ranging from murder, attempted murder, robberies, sexual offences, burglaries, fraud, possession of unlicensed firearms, stock theft, possession of stolen property, possession of drugs, business robbery, possession of stolen motor vehicles, illegal immigration, smuggling and the possession of illegal cigarettes to contraventions of the Disaster Management Act.

During this period, the provincial police made two major breakthroughs. They are the arrest of a 34-year-old man, dubbed the Facebook Serial Rapist, in Tzaneen for 16 counts of rape, and the arrest of alleged serial killer Themba Dube (36) on seven counts of murder after the bodies of seven women were found dumped at different locations around Polokwane.

During these operations, police confiscated a large amount of illegal cigarettes, 90 dangerous weapons - including 64 knives - 580 grams of dagga, 10 grams of crystal meth, 188 grams of nyaope, 21 firearms, 24 grams of cocaine and 11 motor vehicles suspected stolen or robbed.

“The suspects were arrested by police members from different units, such as the Limpopo tracking team, FCS, detectives, flying squad, organised crime, crime intelligence, Limpopo highway patrol (LHP), stock theft, VCIU and public order policing (POPS),” said provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo in a press release.

Provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe has welcomed all the arrests made during these operations and has thanked community members for continuously assisting the police in the fight against crime. The arrested suspects will appear in various courts across the province.

News - Date: 18 November 2021

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