Polokwane - Police arrested over 1200 people in Limpopo over the weekend for helping to smuggle illegal Zimbabwean immigrants into the country and Zimbabwean cigarettes.

A total of 92 police stations in the province worked together as part of Operation Vulindela (meaning make way), which kicked off on Friday and ended Tuesday.

Cigarettes worth over R200 000 were seized and 1 212 people were arrested by Monday morning on charges related to smuggling illegal foreigners into the country, murder, attempted murder, robbery, assault, possession of unlicensed firearms, dagga and stolen property.

Provincial police spokesperson Superintendent Mohale Ramatseba said on Tuesday: “There was also zero tolerance approach to people who urinated and drank in public, drove recklessly and carried dangerous weapons.”

He said 120 people had already paid admission of guilt fines.

Operation Vulindela will continue through out the week as police set up roadblocks and conduct raids and patrols, said Ramatseba.

He warned people not to drink in public, or to sell liquor without a license or to allow minors to buy alcohol.

"We will also make sure that the person who sent the child to a liquor outlet gets prosecuted,” he said.

In April the Limpopo provincial police task team in Limpopo had a major success when they managed to arrest a suspected robber while the alleged suspect posed as a victim of crime and tried to open a case at the Polokwane police station.

The suspect claimed that his VW Kombi - which was used in an attempted cash-in-transit heist earlier Monday - was hijacked from him.

The kombi was found abandoned at Ga-Maja village after a failed attempted robbery following quick intervention by members of the police's crime intelligence gathering unit from the head office.

It is alleged that the armed robbers attacked a cash-in-transit vehicle and fired several shots at the security guards but the driver managed to drive away towards Sebediela until the robbers returned.

After realising that the cash-in-transit vehicle managed to flee the scene, the robbers then returned towards Polokwane.

A Toyota Camry and a VW Kombi, which were used in the attempted robbery, were later found abandoned in different places.

The owner of the VW Kombi, who is alleged to have been part of the robbers, went to the police, claiming that his vehicle had been hijacked and was arrested upon further interrogation by the police.

Another suspect was arrested in the Polokwane taxi rank while in possession of an AK-47 rifle.

He was shot on the thigh while trying to open fire at the police. - BuaNews