cuchulainn
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from The Daily News
http://www.dailynews.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=500&fArticleId=278781
http://www.dailynews.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=500&fArticleId=278781
Illegal guns get the bullet in big 'blender'
November 6, 2003
By Veven Bisetty
Polivce have been waging all-out war on the proliferation of illegal firearms in the province and their efforts are paying dividends. Almost 5 500 confiscated weapons - a good portion of them from KwaZulu-Natal - would end up in a massive "blender" never to be seen again, police top brass said yesterday.
SAPS Acting Commissioner Mulder van Eyk said several operations were planned and executed with the primary objective of recovering unlicensed firearms and ammunition.
"Unlicensed firearms can be described as the single biggest
contributor to violent crimes," he said during a demonstration at Prospecton where a batch of 1 200 illegal firearms were destroyed yesterday.
In an operation from April to September this year, Van Eyk said, 5 400 illegal firearms and 40 000 rounds of ammunition were recovered in KwaZulu-Natal alone.
"This does not include the firearms and ammunition recovered by security forces in normal day-to-day policing activities," he said.
He praised initiatives by police taking part in the various operations that focused on the seizure of illegal firearms.
The guns were seized in cordon-and-searches and crime intelligence operations, as well as at roadblocks, with a significant consignment, including about 30 AK 47 rifles, coming from the Tugela Ferry region.
Some of the firearms, police said, were home-made while others were stolen or taken by force from their legal owners.
The negligent loss and theft of firearms, Van Eyk said, continued to occur in KwaZulu-Natal, and he urged licensed firearm holders to ensure the safekeeping of their weapons.
The process to destroy illegal firearms would continue at regular intervals on completion of the investigative judicial process.
©2003 The Daily News