Kebonyemodisa disclosed that the human trafficking case involved mainly Asians of Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin. He indicated that the investigations started as a fact-finding exercise until they realized that the problem was serious and widespread.

"The Commissioner (of Police) has instituted a special task team to investigate this matter. We have identified all traffickers in Botswana and their accomplices in South Africa," Kebonyemo-disa said. "We have intensified the operation starting Wednesday. We are happy with the progress so far, and the level of assistance and cooperation we are getting from the community."

He added, however, that some of the suspects had skipped the country, particularly those who were highly involved. "They have abandoned their businesses which are likely to close."

The police's preliminary investigations indicate that the traffickers brought their wares (victims) into the country using false documentation with the intention of settling some of them here while others were sent over the border to South Africa. Indications are that they deduced entry into Botswana as being less cumbersome than in South Africa, which does not give them entry visas.

"But a good number of them remain in Botswana and are hired by their fellow countrymen. These indentured workers are notably cheap to pay and maintain," he observed. He said they encountered instances in which up to 30 people could be sharing a four-metre-by-four room.

He disclosed that the modus operandi is such that a trafficker based here pays surety for the would-be illegal immigrant. And their forged clearance documentation is processed by both Batswana and Asian agents at a fee thought to be in the region of P1 500. The same immigrant can then be sold in excess of P10 000 to some agents in South Africa.

"We have realized that most of these documents are false. The visa could look alright but the educational certificates are bogus with the holder being unable to read," Kebonyemodisa pointed out.

Some of the immigrants come to Botswana on a visitor or tourist visa only to be discovered later working in shops. Often they work in shops, in which they are listed as directors. "In some instances, the poor fellow does not even know the exact owner of the company he is working for."

The other prevalent trend the police have noted is that most of these immigrants go into butchery businesses, registered under a Motswana but operated by a fellow Asian. Their penchant to violate strict rules and procedures relating to the Stock Theft Act has increasingly attracted law enforcement agencies' attention to their operations. They have been implicated in at least 50 cases of dealing in stolen livestock.

The problem of human trafficking is "not confined to small business operations (ditokoisi) but also local big chain-stores." Kebonyemodisa, however could not be drawn into disclosing the suspected chain stores.

By yesterday, the police had netted about 50 suspects "and the arrests are likely to go up to 300."