Media Statement
South African Police Service
Office of the Provincial Commissioner Free State

MELODING - Police arrested a 47-year-old male after an unlicensed firearm was discovered hidden at his home in Meloding.

It is reported that on Wednesday, 21 January 2026, off-duty members attached to the Welkom Anti-Gang Unit, received intelligence led information about an unlicensed firearm. Information was operationalised and led members to a house in Meloding.

Permission to search the residence was requested and granted. While searching inside the house, members found a firearm hidden underneath the mattress in the suspect's bedroom. The suspect failed to provide a reasonable explanation for being in possession of the firearm.

Police confiscated the firearm and booked it in as evidence.

The male suspect was subsequently arrested for possession of unlicensed firearm. He is expected to appear before the Virginia Magistrate's Court on Friday, 23 January 2026.

Ends

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Sergeant Palesa Thabana
079 528 4811

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