{"id":56966,"date":"2023-11-23T17:32:44","date_gmt":"2023-11-23T17:32:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues"},"modified":"2023-11-23T17:46:32","modified_gmt":"2023-11-23T17:46:32","slug":"172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues","title":{"rendered":"172 suspects arrested as fight against illegal mining continues"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>The Hawks have arrested another 172 illegal mining suspects.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Hawks head Lt-Gen Godfrey Lebeya on Thursday briefed media on the Hawks’ successes during the second quarter of the 2023\/2024 financial year.<\/p>\n

<\/a>An illegal mining disruptive operation at Zwartkop Zone 1 in the Northam area on August 3 resulted in the arrest of five suspects transporting chrome without a permit.<\/p>\n

Chinese national Cheng Liang Tom Chen, 48, was among those arrested.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the operation, the team seized an excavator, a truck with two trailers loaded with chrome, a tipper truck and two motor vehicles to the value of more than R5m.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chen had been released on bail and was linked to another case of illegal mining while out on bail that occurred on August 3 2022 in the Northam area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough the investigation by the Hawks, a warrant of arrest was issued for Chen and he was rearrested on July 17 2023. He pleaded guilty to two counts of illegal mining in the Thabazimbi regional court,\u201d Lebeya said.<\/p>\n

He was sentenced to an R80,000 fine or two years’ imprisonment.<\/p>\n

In another case, an operation on August 18 at Scott Shaft in Stilfontein resulted in the arrest of 30 alleged illegal miners.<\/p>\n

Among those arrested, two were also charged with illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.<\/p>\n

Another two were charged with possession of unwrought gold to the value of about R100,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe team recovered three rifles, ammunition, unwrought precious metals, food items, medicine and gold refining paraphernalia. One suspect was shot and wounded during a shoot-out with the police and was taken to hospital for medical attention. An inquest docket is being investigated after one suspect died soon after he was found hanging from a shaft.\u201dLebeya said all 30 suspects appeared in the Stilfontein magistrate\u2019s court on August 21 on charges of illegal mining, illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, illegal possession of gold and conspiracy to commit an offence. They were denied bail.<\/p>\n

The matter was postponed to November 28 for ballistics reports.<\/p>\n

On drugs-related matters, the Hawks seized drugs and drug laboratories valued at R11m, with 52 suspects arrested, of which 30 are South Africans and 22 foreigners.<\/p>\n

Lebeya said four drug laboratories were dismantled with seven arrests made.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is imperative to educate our communities to stop the demand for drugs while law enforcers stop the supply.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lebeya said cash-in transit (CIT) heists continue to be a threat to the economy and the Hawks, in collaboration with private organisations, continue to strengthen the fight against these crimes.<\/p>\n

For this quarter, he said 48 CIT arrests were made and two convictions were secured.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. The Hawks have arrested another 172 illegal mining suspects. Hawks head Lt-Gen Godfrey Lebeya on Thursday briefed media on the Hawks’ successes during the second quarter of the 2023\/2024 financial year. An illegal mining disruptive operation at Zwartkop Zone 1 in the Northam area on August 3 resulted in the arrest of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":56965,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-56966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\n172 suspects arrested as fight against illegal mining continues - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Hawks have arrested another 172 illegal mining suspects. Hawks head Lt-Gen Godfrey ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"172 suspects arrested as fight against illegal mining continues\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Hawks have arrested another 172 illegal mining suspects. Hawks head Lt-Gen Godfrey ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-23T17:32:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-23T17:46:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/11\/sm_1700748864.355947.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"172 suspects arrested as fight against illegal mining continues\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-23T17:32:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-23T17:46:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues\"},\"wordCount\":439,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/11\/sm_1700748864.355947.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Africa\",\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues\",\"name\":\"172 suspects arrested as fight against illegal mining continues - South Africa\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/11\/sm_1700748864.355947.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-23T17:32:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-23T17:46:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"The Hawks have arrested another 172 illegal mining suspects. Hawks head Lt-Gen Godfrey ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/11\/sm_1700748864.355947.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/11\/sm_1700748864.355947.jpg\",\"width\":750,\"height\":500,\"caption\":\"172 suspects arrested as fight against illegal mining continues\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"172 suspects arrested as fight against illegal mining continues\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/\",\"name\":\"South Africa\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"172 suspects arrested as fight against illegal mining continues - South Africa","description":"The Hawks have arrested another 172 illegal mining suspects. Hawks head Lt-Gen Godfrey ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"172 suspects arrested as fight against illegal mining continues","og_description":"The Hawks have arrested another 172 illegal mining suspects. Hawks head Lt-Gen Godfrey ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues","og_site_name":"South Africa","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2023-11-23T17:32:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-11-23T17:46:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/11\/sm_1700748864.355947.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"172 suspects arrested as fight against illegal mining continues","datePublished":"2023-11-23T17:32:44+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-23T17:46:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues"},"wordCount":439,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/11\/sm_1700748864.355947.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-South-Africa","South-Africa"],"articleSection":["all news","community"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues","name":"172 suspects arrested as fight against illegal mining continues - South Africa","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/11\/sm_1700748864.355947.jpg","datePublished":"2023-11-23T17:32:44+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-23T17:46:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"The Hawks have arrested another 172 illegal mining suspects. Hawks head Lt-Gen Godfrey ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/11\/sm_1700748864.355947.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/11\/sm_1700748864.355947.jpg","width":750,"height":500,"caption":"172 suspects arrested as fight against illegal mining continues"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/172-suspects-arrested-as-fight-against-illegal-mining-continues#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"172 suspects arrested as fight against illegal mining continues"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/","name":"South Africa","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56966\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}