The number of tips passed onto the crime hotline Meld Misdaad Anoniem reached almost 16,000 last year, leading to 1,922 arrests.

In addition, 1,515 crimes were solved and 127 crimes were foiled before they took place, the hotline said in its annual report.

There was a notable rise in tips about drugs laboratories, which were up 46% at 161. In addition, there were 50% more reports about chemicals used to process drugs being dumped. In total, some 9,000 tips were drugs-related.

‘We were phoned 15,800 times by alert citizens and the information supplied in 92% of the calls was usable,’ director Titus Visser said.