By Johnathan Paoli
The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) says it has made “significant inroads in apprehending individuals involved in high-profile cases”.
Briefing the media on Sunday on the DPCI’s achievements for the second quarter for the 2024/25 financial year, Hawks head Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya said the arrests ensured accountability and justice for the victims.
“These arrests targeted people involved in serious corruption, serious organised crime, serious commercial crime including fraud, theft, money laundering, police killings, cash-in-transit robberies, illegal mining, drug trafficking, damage to essential infrastructure and trafficking in endangered species,” Lebeya said.
A total of 818 suspects were apprehended during this period.
He said 489 of the arrests were for organised crime, 209 for commercial crime and 120 for corruption.
Most of the arrests were in Gauteng, followed by the North West, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape.
Additionally, 84 firearms and over 2,000 rounds of ammunition were seized, along with the dismantling of seven clandestine drug laboratories valued at over R17 million.
During this same period, the Hawks achieved significant convictions, securing 301 sentences, including 285 individuals and 13 corporate entities. Of the convicted individuals, 164 were South Africans and 108 were foreign nationals.
To disrupt the financial backbone of criminal enterprises, it has successfully executed 75 freezing and forfeiture orders, totalling nearly R73 million.
This has led to approximately R8.2 million being deposited into the Criminal Assets Recovery Account.
Lebeya also announced that 240 newly graduated entry-level police constables from various police academies had joined the DPCI.
“These are some of the 10,000 trainees that were recruited in the past financial year 2023/24. These members are graduates in various fields including legal degrees,” he said.
“They have been placed in various units within the DPCI to strengthen the efforts of combatting national priority offences. We have also added 51 new vehicles and 20 more specialised vehicles are en route.”
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