JUBA – The Military Intelligence (MI) Unit of the South Sudan People’s Defense Force (SSPDF) on Wednesday arrested 14 suspected criminals, including three soldiers, one woman, and several minors, during a security operation targeting criminal activities in Juba.
The arrests were announced by Brigadier General Lual Akoon Kenyang, Commander of the New Site Military Intelligence Base, who said the suspects had been classified into different categories according to the offenses they are alleged to have committed.
“We have divided them into three categories. One category is for soldiers, of which we have arrested three, and another category consists of 13 armed robbery suspects, including one woman and nine boys who are underage,” Akoon told SSBC on Wednesday.
According to Akoonr, the suspects are accused of carrying out a series of robberies targeting shops and residential areas in the New Site area.
“These are people accused of robbing shops in New Site. The commander of the Military Police reported the incidents to us, and their names appeared on the list of people allegedly involved in these crimes,” he said.
He added that most of the suspects were arrested during the operation and brought into custody, including a woman believed to be the deputy leader of the group.
“They were arrested and brought here this morning. The woman was still at large, but the suspects told us she is the deputy leader of the group, and we arrested her.”
Akoon alleged that the group had been involved in numerous criminal activities, saying they will be handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department to establish the full extent of their crimes.
“The crimes they have committed are many. During questioning, the boys, aged between 10 and 17, told us they would steal from the area and then return to town,” he said.
In New Site, the suspects allegedly broke into 31 shops within a month, stealing cash worth millions of South Sudanese pounds.
The latest operation comes amid ongoing efforts by security agencies to curb armed robberies and other crimes in Juba, where authorities have intensified patrols and intelligence-led operations in response to rising security concerns.
This came a day after the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Operations Unit arrested 50 suspected criminals in Juba’s Atlabara residential area following a nightclub disco that reportedly escalated into a gang fight.
The suspects include 27 women and girls, among them a breastfeeding mother. The arrests were announced at the CID general headquarters.
