6 'Junkies' nabbed: two of the suspects were found sleeping on the rooftop of a house whose owner has been detained
Written by Millennium on August 18, 2019
NOEL IYOMBWA writes
SIX members of a criminal gang popularly known as the Junkies who have been terrorizing people in Lusaka’s Lilanda West have been apprehended by members of the public and handed over to the Police.
They are believed to be part of the 15-man criminal gang that had been terrorizing people in the area for a long time and that the oldest one was believed to be only 19 years old.
Area councilor Patrick Salubusa who led the team that apprehended the gangsters said the operation started on Friday evening and that one of the suspects managed to escape the dragnet and was on the run.
Mr. Salubusa told the Sun in a telephone interview that the woman whose house was being used by the suspected criminals has been detained by po0licer to help with investigations.
The councilor said that around 04:00 hours in the company of some Patriotic Front security officers he went to the house of the woman and found two of the suspects sleeping on the rooftop.
On seeing his team, they jumped off the roof but the group managed to apprehend one of the suspects aged 17 years old, while a 14-year boy who is the son of the detained woman managed to escape.
“What happened is that we apprehended five members of the gang calling itself the Junkies around 04:00 yesterday hours. We wanted to apprehend the suspected group leader but we did not find him and his parents told us that they have chased him from home.
“We then proceeded to check on the house of the woman we have detained. When we knocked on the door two suspects jumped from the rooftop and we managed to apprehend one who is 17 years old while a 14-year-old boy who is the son of the woman who is detained managed to escape,” Mr. Salubusa said.
He said the boys had been evading the police dragnet for some time with some of them sleeping on the rooftop, adding that people in the area confirmed the boys had been growing up as thieves.
Mr. Salubusa said the captured boys have since been handed over to the police and that members of public were willing to testify once the suspects were taken to court.
He commended the residents of Lilanda West compound for taking part in the ‘Know Your Neighbor’ program which would go a long way in combating crime.
He said through their active involvement in the program, it was slowly helping to dismantle the criminal gangs that had been attacking people especially in the nearby Lesa Akapingula area.
