There was early morning commotion at the Francistown Bus Rank last Thursday as the cops, acting on a tip-off, swooped on two young men who had a total of P279, 800 in hard cold cash on them.
Unable to give a satisfactory account of how they came into possession of so much money, the duo, Solomon Katsande, 26, and Isaac Moyo, 23, were arrested.
They were busted at around 5:30am, seconds after Moyo, travelling on the night bus from Gaborone, had set foot in the second city, where the dreadlocked Katsande was waiting to pick him up in a red Volkswagen Polo Cross car.
A quick search showed that Katsande, a Zimbabwean national working as a herdboy at Marapong, had P9, 000 stashed in his back pocket while Moyo was reportedly found with P270, 800 packed neatly into his bag.
Arraigned before Francistown Magistrate Court on Tuesday, the pair were charged with being found in possession of suspected stolen property.
The officer investigating the matter, Inspector Orelebile Molebatsi told court when Katsande was questioned about the nine grand, he claimed it was his as he had been saving.
The I.O added that similarly Moyo, who is from Mmopane, insisted the small fortune in his bag was legally his, money made from buying and selling cars.
“He claimed some of it he was given by his business partners in Gaborone who we duly contacted and they denied. He later changed his story, claiming he got the money from his mother, which made us suspicious,” continued Inspector Molebatsi, who requested the suspects be locked up so they do not interfere with their investigations.
The top cop got his wish as the duo were remanded in custody until their next court, set for 21 March.