KZN police crackdown on West Gang sees 3 suspected gang members killed in shootout

JOHANNESBURG - KwaZulu-Natal police continue their crackdown on members of the notorious West Gang, who have been terrorising communities in the north of Durban. 
 
An intelligence-driven operation on Wednesday morning by members of the Hawks and police in the eThekwini metro led to the killing of three men, suspected to be members of the gang.

Last year, an Eyewitness News report into the inner workings of the gang uncovered their primary drug distribution operation.

READ: SA's murder capital: Inanda residents terrorised by 'West Gang' youngsters
 
Shortly after 3am on Wednesday morning, under the cloak of darkness, specialised police units quietly navigated the narrow corridors in an informal settlement in La Mercy, north of Durban. 
 
Law enforcement received information about a shack where suspected members of the West Gang were hiding out. 
 
Three men were killed in an exchange of gunfire with police while a number of firearms were found.

The West Gang was implicated in more than 50 murders in Inanda, South Africa's murder capital, just last year alone. 
 
When Eyewitness News visited the area, victims and anti-crime activists spoke of a blanket of fear that had been cast over the community, as teenage boys ruled with an iron fist in the region. 
 
Police say the teenagers, some as young as 14, were being recruited and armed by drug lords. 
 
In October, Warrant Officer Sthembiso Mazibuko of the national intervention unit was killed in a shootout with alleged members of the West Gang, at a house in Ntuzuma.
 
His murder followed that of community policing forum (CPF) chairperson of Bhambayi, Mnakiseni Mngadi, who was shot multiple times at his home the same month.