Another suspect arrested in Webb Arms saga

On By Rgal Nv

Another suspect was arrested and charged alongside Gqeberha firearms dealer Karen Webb, who faces a litany of charges related to the Gun Control Act.
Francois Van Der Merwe was arrested in George on Monday and transported to Gqeberha, where he and Webb appeared in the Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
He was charged with transporting firearms throughout South Africa without a transit permit and failing to ensure that firearms and ammunition possessed under the dealer’s license were transported in accordance with packaging requirements during transport, as defined in the regulations. , illegal possession of a firearm and illegal possession of ammunition.
Van Der Merwe allegedly transported a total of 658 firearms from Webb’s cache to the Western Cape over two days in January.
According to the indictment, the firearms were transported from Webb’s Arms to Pete’s Gun Repairs in Sedgefield.
At the time, Webb was reportedly already under police investigation.
The case against Van der Merwe was adjourned until October 8 for a formal bail application to be made.
Webb has already been denied bail twice.
Since his arrest in February, numerous charges have been added to his indictment.
The long list of existing charges includes theft, conspiracy to smuggle firearms, fraud, dealing in firearms without a license, supplying firearms and ammunition to persons who are not allowed to possess them and defeating justice.
His arrest on February 8 is part of an ongoing police investigation into how guns ended up in the possession of gangsters in the city’s northern areas and other provinces.
In addition to the 76 firearms that have been positively linked to crimes in the northern areas of the city and as far as the Western Cape and Gauteng, evidence has emerged which suggests that 437 of the 900 firearms registered on Webbs Arms are missing, but later found.
The theft charge relates to ten Glock 9mm pistols which disappeared from Aquila Arms’ stock while the cache was stored on its premises.
In August, Webb was caught trying to smuggle a cell phone into the North End prison, where she is being held, awaiting the outcome of her trial.
It is understood Webb grabbed the mobile phone between being transported to and from court and hid the device in her bra.

Nobuntu Gantana, spokesperson for the Eastern Cape Correctional Services Department, confirmed that the mobile phone was found in Webb’s possession, when he returned from court.