WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2008-10-31 Time: 10:00:18 Posted By: Jan
Pretoria’s organised crime gangs were dealt a major blow when dozens of heavily armed specialised police officers swarmed through one of the city’s most violent suburbs in a predawn raid.
Seizing cars, guns, police uniforms and equipment including night vision goggles, officers arrested 19 people.
Among them was a suspected armed robbery kingpin whose brother, a Tshwane Metro Police officer, has allegedly been supplying the robbery syndicate with tactical policing equipment.
The operation, carried out in Eersterus by detectives from the Gauteng organised crime task team, national intervention unit (NIU), Pretoria dog unit, flying squad, explosives unit and the narcotics K9 unit, was aimed at disrupting the activities of organised crime syndicates in Pretoria.
The raid, which occurred after police spent weeks gathering intelligence on gangs and their operations, came after dozens of calls for help were made by residents this year to senior police officers to bring an end to the violence plaguing Eersterus.
For years residents have accused local Eersterus police of incompetence and colluding with gangs by either failing to arrest known criminals or deliberately botching investigations through the loss of dockets and evidence.
Provincial organised crime task team director Simon Mapyane said the operation was about causing as much havoc to organised crime gangs as possible as well as restoring residents’ faith in the police.
Warning officers involved in the raid that they would be dealt with harshly if they were found informing suspects who were due to be arrested, Mapyane said there was serious concern from residents that police in the area were ineffectual.
“We are here to show them that we take their crime concerns seriously.”
After splitting into groups, the 150 officers, armed with battering rams and a list of suspects, their alleged crimes and their addresses, blocked off roads and intersections while others stormed houses.
The raid, which sparked protests from homeowners and their families, saw police seizing both legal and illegal guns and cellphones.
“We are conducting ballistic tests on all firearms to see if they have been used in crimes and are taking all cellphones in the houses we raid to see if they have been used to contact known criminals in the conspiring to or the commission of crimes.
“We are leaving nothing to chance and will do whatever it takes to catch those behind these gangs,” said Mapyane, adding that the operation was aimed at taking out the heads of the crime rings.
“By doing this we can sort out the major problem of organised crime,” he said.
Another police officer said the operation was a step in a long process of dealing with organised crime.
“The moment you take out one guy, another replaces him. You have to constantly go at them to eradicate the syndicates.
“By conducting these operations we disrupt the gangs’ activities – making it hard for them to operate.”
In a raid on the home of a suspected robbery kingpin police seized police uniforms and equipment and thousands of rands in cash.
Detectives and NIU members, using a battering ram to smash open the front doors, caught the homeowner and a friend as they tried to escape down a ladder which had been placed against a balcony of the double-storey Foster Street house.
“These are the kind of guys we are after. They, the ones financing and equipping the gangs, are the ones we are taking down,” said an officer, while pointing at the police equipment and money, which had been hidden in cupboards and underneath a bed.
Police spokesperson Superintendent Lungelo Dlamini said 19 people, wanted for a range of crimes including attempted murder, assault and armed robbery were arrested while five guns and ammunition, Metro Police uniforms, police equipment – including night vision goggles and bulletproof vests – four cars, 23 cellphones, seven car radios, truck tyres, power tools, clothing and R14 000 in cash were seized.
He said the suspects would appear in court soon.