Cape Town – A teenager who tossed a firearm away after he was chased by law enforcement officers, later told them that he had found the gun on a railway line, a City of Cape Town official said on Thursday.
The City's stabilisation unit was patrolling in Eastridge, Mitchells Plain, on Tuesday when they saw the 17-year-old acting suspiciously, said law enforcement spokesperson Wayne Dyason.
He had run away when they approached him.
Dyason said the running teen reached into his trousers and removed a firearm, which he tossed into the yard of a house.
Officers caught up with him and he was arrested.
The recovered firearm was a Glock pistol, loaded with six rounds.
When questioned at the Mitchells Plain police station, the teen apparently said he had picked up the gun and a set of handcuffs on a nearby railway line.
Two arrested for possession of AK-47
But the handcuffs could not be found when law enforcement searched his house.
Instead, Dyason said, they found another Glock magazine, loaded with five rounds.
The firearm was traced to a Sir Lowry's Pass Village resident and had not been reported stolen.
In a separate incident on Thursday morning, Western Cape police arrested two men in Mbekweni for illegal possession of an AK-47 assault rifle and ammunition.
The arrests were made in an "intelligence-driven operation", which included a search warrant for the premises, according to the police's Facebook page.
Officers seized credit card cloning devices, a zip gun, a laptop, a police issue raincoat and a reflector jacket.
The pair would appear in the Paarl Magistrate's Court once charged.
