Durban — KwaZulu-Natal Hawks officers are looking for a suspect who dropped a firearm they intended to sell in Pietermaritzburg earlier this week.
Hawks officers from Pietermaritzburg Serious Organised Crime Investigation recovered a 9mm pistol that had been dropped by a suspect at the Jika Joe informal settlement in Pietermaritzburg.
According to KZN Hawks spokesperson Warrant Officer Sibu Ncane, on Monday at about 10pm, officers were informed that a suspect was on his way to the Jika Joe informal settlement to sell a firearm. The officers went to the address.
“They saw a person matching the description of the suspect and he was carrying a parcel in his hand. The suspect saw the members, dropped the parcel and ran into the informal settlement,” Ncane said.
“The members then inspected the parcel and found a CZPO7 9mm pistol with live ammunition.
“Initial investigation revealed that the firearm was stolen during a housebreaking in Pietermaritzburg and the case was investigated by Pietermaritzburg detectives.
“The firearm will be sent for a ballistic test to ascertain if it was not used in the commission of any crime in the country.”
Meanwhile, in another matter, KZN Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Simphiwe Mhlongo said that last Friday, Hawks members from Newcastle Serious Organised Crime Investigation and Ladysmith Crime Prevention arrested a suspect, 42, for possession of unlicensed firearms.
Mhlongo said officers received information about a suspect with unlicensed firearms in Tsakane township in Ladysmith.
He said a joint operation was conducted in the early hours of the morning and members swooped in on the residence.
“A search was conducted and during the search, police found one 9mm pistol, one 303 rifle, two magazines and 47 live rounds of ammunition,” Mhlongo said.
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