Four men, aged between 33 and 52, were arrested by the Operation Vala Umgodi team in the Namakwa District after being found in possession of suspected unpolished diamonds.
FOUR men, aged between 33 and 52, were arrested by the Operation Vala Umgodi team in the Namakwa District after being found in possession of suspected unpolished diamonds.
Northern Cape police spokesperson Sergeant Merapelo Pilane explained that during the early hours of November 22, the multi-disciplinary Operation Vala Umgodi team, consisting of proactive and combat units from the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) in the Namakwa District, acted on intelligence regarding vehicles allegedly transporting illegal miners along the R355 road between Koingnaas and Kleinzee.
The information was tactically operationalised, resulting in one vehicle being stopped along the R355, while another was intercepted attempting to evade law enforcement. Upon searching the vehicles, authorities recovered 25 suspected unpolished diamonds, which were subsequently confiscated.
Four suspects were arrested and also found to be in contravention of South Africa’s immigration laws.
The provincial commissioner of the SAPS in the Northern Cape, Lieutenant-General Koliswa Otola, commended the relentless efforts of the Operation Vala Umgodi team in curbing illegal mining activities in the Province.
Sergeant Pilane encouraged members of the public to report any criminal activity via the MySAPS app or by contacting the Crime Stop hotline at 08600 10111.
