Two suspects were apprehended near during which an AK47 rifle and one pistol were confiscated.
It was on Wednesday, 23 March 2022, at about 20:00, when a suspicious Toyota Fortuner was spotted on the N6 near Aliwal North. Smithfield District Farmers Union alerted police of the suspicious vehicle and kept on providing police with the accurate location of the said vehicle.
Police acted swiftly upon receiving information and activated other Units to be on the lookout for the said vehicle.
Police alongside farmers monitored the vehicle and managed to pull it over near Smithfield Police station. Upon tactically approaching the vehicle, police managed to search the vehicle. An unlicensed, AK47 assault rifle with 30 rounds and one pistol with 14 rounds were found inside the vehicle. Two males from Umtata in the Eastern Cape, aged 28 and 45, were apprehended for unlawful possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition. Police further confiscated the Toyota Fortuner valued at R 700 000, 00. The arrested suspects will appear before Smithfield Magistrates’ Court soon.
The confiscated firearms will be sent for ballistic testing to determine if they were not used in any commission of crime.
The Free State Acting Provincial Commissioner, Major General Solly Lesia thanked the Smithfield District Farmers Union for working with police in removing illegal firearms from society.
Partnership policing between SAPS and farmers leads to arrest and seizure of illegal firearms https://t.co/bZqbyRvKbb #ArriveAlive #IllegalFirearms #Enforcement @SAPoliceService pic.twitter.com/VDxxrULzGk
— Arrive Alive (@_ArriveAlive) March 24, 2022
