More than 16 000 suspects arrested during SAPS week-long operations

A person in handcuffs following an arrest.

Police have arrested more than 16 000 suspects for various crimes during a week-long nationwide crime combating operations which ended on Sunday.

During the operations, police seized over 160 illegal firearms, more than 50 stolen vehicles and drugs worth over R2 million.

Most of the arrests were made in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal.

“Police seized drugs with a street value of R2.8 million at OR Tambo International Airport. During day-to-day operation at a cargo warehouse, police discovered crystal meth worth R2.2 million. The second bust was made at another warehouse and discovered eight large boxes containing dagga worth R672 000,” says police spokesperson is Vincent Mukhathi.

#sapsGP #SAPS in Gauteng arrested 1 016 suspects for various serious crimes including rape, hijacking, kidnapping and other serious crimes while conducting #OperationShanela II within the province. A total of eleven liquor outlets were also closed during the operations for… pic.twitter.com/li1H4EXwJz

— SA Police Service 🇿🇦 (@SAPoliceService) March 9, 2026