Police crackdown on drug peddlers

Refilwe Motube
INTERCEPTED: Confiscated drugs about to be incinerated INSET: Detective Senyatso

Police have expressed concern at the rising use of illicit drugs as their crackdown on drug peddlers across the country continues.

In recent police cases, it has been established that offenders use post offices, ungazetted points of entry as well as air transport to smuggle drugs into the country.

“We have recently caught two South African men aged 31 and 34 years who were arrested in the Good Hope policing area after they were found with 9 bags suspected to be Dagga. The substances which were found in their truck weighed 120kg with a street value of P318 000”, said Superintendent Zibani Mbisana of Ramatlabama Police.

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Dagga continues to be the number one drug that is mostly smuggled into the country.

According to police crime statistics, 20 cases of dagga have been recorded since the beginning of the year to date.

Moreover, it has been established that drug dealers send consignments into the country, harbouring another toxic habit-forming drug known as cathenol, through the use of Botswana Post sorting centre.

Such bulk parcels containing drugs, according to the police, are sent by deceptive dealers who trick unsuspecting post box owners to receive the parcels on behalf of the recipients. “They strategically identify post box addresses and the owners receive the parcels oblivious of the contents,” Detective Sergeant Bothobotsile Senyatso of the Diamond and Narcotics Squad told The Voice.

He added that consignments of such drugs usually come from East African countries, mainly Ethiopia.

“Cathenol is made from tree leaves which are dried and mixed up with different chemicals to make such drugs. We recently had a case in which a Motswana was caught in possession of 36 bags weighing 30-35kg, each containing cathenol and investigations into the matter is still ongoing,” Senyatso explained.

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Habit-forming drugs, according to the police have become an impediment as they also pose a threat in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

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