Limpopo police arrest 2 571 suspects and seize 12 firearms in week-long Operation Shanela II
The arrests, made across all five districts between 14 and 20 September, include 401 people held on immigration-related charges and 523 for public drinking, according to the provincial police commissioner's office.
Limpopo police arrested 2 571 suspects and confiscated 12 firearms, 229 rounds of ammunition and 10 stolen or robbed vehicles during a week of Operation Shanela II operations across all five districts of the province, the provincial commissioner’s office said.
The operations ran from 14 to 20 September 2026 and targeted serious and violent crime, illegal firearms, drug-related offences, unlawful liquor activity and undocumented persons, according to the South African Police Service media statement.
The statement is a summary of the week’s operational returns rather than the underlying case dockets, and the figures are the police’s own.
Among the arrests recorded were 10 for murder, 11 for attempted murder, 36 for rape, three for sexual assault and nine for other sexual offences. A further 166 suspects were arrested for assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and 128 for common assault.
Aggravated robbery accounted for four arrests and common robbery for 23. Seventeen suspects were held for robbery with weapons other than a firearm.
Property and commercial crime arrests included 13 for residential burglary, nine for business burglary, nine for shoplifting, four for fraud, 51 for other theft and one for stock theft. Two suspects were arrested for arson and 86 for malicious injury to property.
Drug-related crime produced 209 arrests. Police also arrested 74 people for driving under the influence, 13 for illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, 42 for possession of suspected stolen property and 36 for transgressing the Domestic Violence Act.
A total of 401 people were arrested as undocumented immigrants, 523 for public drinking and 121 for illegal dealing in liquor.
Confiscations during the week included 1 208 544.357 grams of dagga, 247.532 grams of crystal meth, 71.127 grams of nyaope, five grams of khat and 0.003 grams of crack cocaine. Police also seized 215 897 counterfeit cigarette sticks, 2 434 158.75 millilitres of liquor, 62 dangerous weapons and 53 knives.
The operation ran alongside crime prevention work. Police conducted 8 696 stop-and-search operations, 3 817 vehicle check points and 152 roadblocks, searched 41 596 people and 16 691 vehicles, and tested 7 685 vehicles. Officers carried out 15 529 blue light patrols and 1 406 crime prevention operations.
Compliance inspections were conducted at 4 083 liquor premises and 991 second-hand goods dealers. Police closed 132 shebeens, attended 589 domestic violence incidents, served 259 protection orders and issued 2 235 fines. They also ran 1 152 awareness campaigns and searched 1 406 spaza and tuck shops.
Lieutenant General Jan Scheepers, the provincial commissioner of Limpopo, commended police members for their continued commitment to crime prevention and law enforcement across the province.
“We will continue to strengthen our presence in communities and pursue those who threaten the safety of our people,” Scheepers said.
Some of the suspects have started appearing before magistrate’s courts across the province, the statement said.
Source: South African Police Service (SAPS), Limpopo police seize 12 firearms and 229 rounds of ammunition as 2 571 suspects arrested during Operation Shanela II
