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Police hail 'bad buildings' raid in Hillbrow a success after 25 arrested

Police arrested 25 people following raids on a number of hijacked buildings in Hillbrow‚ downtown Johannesburg‚ on Wednesday.

The task team aimed to look for criminal elements and check whether municipality by-laws are being contravened.

Metro police spokesperson Wayne Minnaar described the operation as a success.

"We conducted a joint operation‚ 'Bad Buildings'‚ in Hillbrow‚ where 124 individuals were taken in for questioning. Out of the 124‚ 21 were illegal immigrants‚" he said.

"There were three arrested for [possession of] illegal ammunition and a home-made rifle. There was one suspect arrested for selling liquor without a licence."

Minnaar said the focus of the operation was on hijacked buildings‚ which often harbour criminals.

"This operation was a success in that we were able to sift out criminals in possession of firearms and ammunition‚ and also we were able to track undocumented foreign nationals‚" he said.

A joint effort by SA police services led to raids on various buildings in Hillbrow on June 12 2019. There were four arrests and numerous suspects taken into custody for questioning. Subscribe to TimesLIVE here: https://www.youtube.com/user/TimesLive

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