Three people who were transporting illegal weapons across provinces have been arrested at the De Hoek Plaza toll gate, police said on Sunday.

Police received information about “firearms and ammunition that were in transit from KwaZulu-Natal to Gauteng”, police spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters said in a statement.

On Saturday afternoon, “police spotted and intercepted the suspects’ vehicle near the De Hoek Plaza toll gate on the N3 and police found in the vehicle three firearms in a box with a lot of ammunition”.

The three people were arrested and the weapons and ammunition seized. They will appear in court soon on charges of possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition.

Gauteng provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Elias Mawela called on anyone who owned an illegal, unlicensed or unwanted firearm and ammunition to hand it in at a police station before May, as there is currently an amnesty period for doing so.