National Police Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, says illegal firearms remain a huge concern across the world. He was speaking at the 27th Interpol Regional Conference in Cape Town, which wrapped up on Friday.

The three-day gathering brought together high-ranking officials from the International Criminal Police Organisation, senior police officers from Southern Africa and security analysts.

Closing the event, Masemola says that through intelligence sharing and cooperation, Africa can defeat the scourge of crime.

Masemola says law enforcement needs to unite and fight the scourge of crime across the globe.

“Illegal firearms have become a problem and these firearms, of course they are manufactured across the globe, and they are also transshipped internationally. They are a tool to commit crime, and it is these firearms that leave families stranded, distraught and accompanied by the scourge of drugs that is also being transshipped across the globe.”

The gathering attended by senior law enforcement officials from across Africa and Western countries addressed growing concerns over violent crime in the host city. It also dealt with various forms of financial flows, money laundering in and out of countries, cyber fraud, and tax evasion, amongst others.

The gathering also addressed growing concerns over violent crime in the host city. This comes as several areas on the Cape Flats have seen a surge in violent crimes and gang-related crimes over the past few months.

Western Cape Police Commissioner, Thembisile Patekile, says there has been a spike in shootings within the same gangs on the Cape Flats. He says they’ve arrested a 23-year-old man in Mitchells Plain who was wanted for a fatal shooting outside the local magistrates’ court earlier this week.

“We’ve seen the surge, the flare on the gangs, especially in Muizenberg, Steenberg, and Grassy Park area. Normally, even in this case was a fight within one gang. Buin again in particular in this one the deceased and the suspect belong to the same gang. So again, this conflict within one gang is manifesting itself in many murders.”

Patekile says they’ve seized about 880 illegal firearms since April.

“In the Western Cape, the weapon of choice is firearms. And this week alone, 35 firearms were retrieved. Of those, seven of are semi-automatic rifles and four are AK-47s and two are Uzzis, and one is an automatic rifle. Now we believe that these `firearms are coming from other countries, hence we have the conference here and we are talking about the transnational crime, organised crime, the cyber-crimes.”

Officials have pledged to unite and fight crime across the globe.