Pretoria - Alcohol-related arrests were in the majority over the Easter long weekend in Gauteng, according to police spokesperson Captain Kay Makhubela, who said 1 170 suspects were nabbed in operations conducted across all five districts in Gauteng.
In Tshwane, over 500 suspects were arrested during the operation, among them those found driving while drunk, while a number of illegal liquor outlets were shut down and liquor confiscated due to non-compliance.
Makhubela said among those arrested were the owner of a liquor outlet who was charged with the contravention of lockdown level 1 regulations in Video informal settlement in Muldersdrift.
In Orlando and Diepkloof, Soweto, police arrested 19 drunk-driving suspects at a roadblock along the N17 and impounded a suspected stolen vehicle. Detectives also arrested over 80 suspects wanted for various serious and violent crimes.
During the early hours of Saturday, another team pounced on a workshop in the Johannesburg CBD where counterfeit goods with an estimated value of R5.2 million were seized and over 150 suspects arrested.
“Meanwhile, over 390 suspects were nabbed in Ekurhuleni by integrated law enforcement agencies for various offences that include driving while under the influence of alcohol.”
In addition, police recovered 12 firearms during the operations, and these would be subjected to ballistic testing to establish possible links to crimes.
The arrested suspects are expected to appear before the respective courts across the province in due course.
Pretoria News