Police in Lusaka, along with members of the Community Crime Prevention Unit (CCPU), detained 167 suspects in connection with a string of assaults and robberies that occurred in various areas of the city.
21 of them are accused of aggravated robbery and have been evading the police dragnet.
The individuals have been on the police wanted list for some time, according to police deputy spokesperson Danny Mwale.
“Among them include Kelvin Kapanga aged 27 of Garden House who is believed to have been among the gang of 30 others who attacked and robbed a named man of Kanyama compound on April 17, 2023. After interrogations, he led Police to where eight of his friends were hiding and they have all been picked on similar charges,” he said.
Twelve individuals were discovered to be in possession of psychotropic drugs during the operation, according to Mr. Mwale, and the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) has now been contacted for more investigations.
Eight of the 167 suspects, he claimed, are female and range in age from 10 to 44.
According to Mr. Mwale, between April 21, 2023 at 18:00 and April 22, 2023 at 06:00, 52 suspects were apprehended in Obama, Kamanga, Ng’ombe, and Kaunda Square stages 1 and 2, and 115 suspects were apprehended in Kanyama, Makeni, and Garden House.
“More than 40 suspects were fished out from different hiding points where they ambush unsuspecting members of the public.
All the suspects are detained in Police custody as the screening process is ongoing for the other suspects,” he said.
