Police retrieve 1,450-litre petrol valued at P24,650
Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Tuesday June 14, 2022 11:01
Tshesebe Police Station commander, Amos Kekgathetse told The Monitor that they have arrested a 39-year-old man who was caught red-handed trying to smuggle petrol into Zimbabwe.
The Motswana man was caught at Moroka village a few kilometres from the Botswana-Zimbabwe borderline.
Kekgathetse said the man is suspected of selling the illicit petrol to Zimbabwean buyers and to do so he cut the fence when committing the offence. The Tshesebe police chief alleged that there is a market for illicit fuel in Zimbabwe.
According to Kekgathetse, the man was caught with 58 containers of 25 litres which were filled with petrol. He added that the market value of the recovered petrol is about P24,650. “The suspect, who was travelling alone at the time, is still in police custody. Some of the charges he is facing include failure to package hazardous goods in a prescribed container, driving hazardous goods without a hazardous [product] licence,” Kekgathetse said.
He added they are likely to impose a fine and confiscate all the petrol as prescribed by the Botswana Energy Regulatory Authority (BERA) Act.
He shared that the criminals use illegal routes to transport fuel because they avoid paying tax at the Ramokgwebana Border Post.
Meanwhile, the Tshesebe station commander said they are concerned about the break-in cases in their policing area.
He said that most of the break-ins take place in Butale and Siviya villages.
Kekgathetse said that they suspect that the break-in cases happen due to the winter season probably because a lot of people sleep early around this time of the year. The culprits also target abandoned and unattended houses and most of the owners stay in different towns and only visit for the holidays.
To address the issue, the Tshesebe police boss said they have engaged community clusters who patrol the neighbourhoods at night.