WARNING: IMAGE OF CATTLE CARCASSES BELOW.
Durban — A week after KwaZulu-Natal police warned stock thieves that they would be met with the wrath of the law, seven suspects were arrested for being in possession of slaughtered stolen cattle.
KZN police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said five suspected stock thieves are expected to appear in the Highflats Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, November 23, after they were arrested on Tuesday, November 21.
Netshiunda said that police were manning a vehicle checkpoint on the R612 road in Sawoti when they spotted a suspicious vehicle which was stopped.
“Upon searching the vehicle police recovered three carcasses of cattle. Two suspects were duly arrested and further investigations led the investigating team to J Section in uMlazi where five more suspects were nabbed in possession of three more carcasses of cattle. The suspects were found in the act of washing vehicles believed to have been used in the commission of the stock theft,” Netshiunda said.
“The two suspects who were arrested in Sawoti appeared in the local magistrate’s court on Wednesday for possession of suspected stolen cattle and were remanded in custody. Their case was postponed to November 28, 2023, and was transferred to Highflats Magistrate’s Court.”
Netshiunda continued: “All seven suspects, whose ages range between 24 and 34 years old, have been charged with stock theft and have already been linked with cases in Msinsini and Highflats. The slaughtered cattle were positively identified by the owner who is a farmer at Highflats. The suspects are believed to be members of a syndicate which was terrorising stock owners in the Ugu and Harry Gwala districts.”
Last week, KZN police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi issued a strong warning to those who steal cattle, slaughter them and sell the meat to unsuspecting buyers.
He said several suspects have been arrested for stock theft up to this point.
As part of the ongoing Safer Festive Season Operations and Operation Shanela, dedicated stock theft officers are on the ground to ensure that those who steal cattle and other stock are met with the relentless wrath of the law, warned Mkhwanazi.
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