MONDAY, 4.30PM
A JOINT operation by South African and Mozambican police between May 21 and the end of last week resulted in the recovery and destruction of thousands of firearms and millions of rounds of ammunition, found in scores of arms caches left over from Mozambique’s 20-year civil war.
The operation, “Rachel III”, was aimed at the large numbers of arms caches still in Mozambique, from which thousands of illegal weapons are being smuggled into SA. SA Police Service spokesman Director Reg Crewe said firearms smuggled into SA from Mozambique are being used in ongoing taxi violence, armed robberies, vehicle hijackings and other crimes.
Crewe said the arms caches in Mozambique have to be destroyed to stabilise crime in both countries and give expression to the crime prevention bilateral agreement signed by them.
During the operation, police discovered and destroyed more than 5 500 machine guns, sub-machine guns and automatic rifles. Of this figure, 1 177 were AK47 rifles and 78 were pistols. Also found were 518 anti-personnel mines, four landmines, 336 hand grenades, 153 detonators, more than 3 726 mortar bombs, 79 rocket and mortar launchers, 2 340 projectiles (including 158 RPG7 rockets), 13 cannons, about 3-million rounds of ammunition of various calibres, and four magazines.
“This should have a positive impact on the flow of illegal weapons across our border,” Crewe said.
He added that the operation was also in line with the mutual commitment of police chiefs of the Southern African region in their fight against crime. “It is envisaged that similar types of operations will be conducted in future and may even be broadened,” said Crewe.