Landlocked Botswana transit route for drug trafficking
Mompati Tlhankane | Monday July 17, 2023 06:00
Speaking during panel discussion on combating illicit trafficking at the US -Africa summit, Mmusi said the use and trafficking in illicit narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances has also reached a straining high pitch.
He emphasized that Botswana is geographically situated at the center of Southern Africa, surrounded by South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia therefore there is extensive international trade between Botswana and neighboring countries.
“Many trucks exit and enter Botswana through all border ports on a daily basis with some of the trucks going beyond neighboring countries to other regions. In particular, South Africa is a one of the major recipients of drugs such as meth and heroine from West Africa, and cocaine from Columbia. In addition, large quantities of marijuana/cannabis enter Botswana from South Africa, Eswatini, Lesotho and Mozambique,” he disclosed.
Mmusi added that trade in illicit drugs continues to represent a major source of revenue for organized criminal groups across the globe and in the case of Botswana since there is militant violence in Mozambique, it will not be far-fetched to link the drug trafficking trade to terrorist funding.
He said they are aware of factors that perpetuate smuggling of drugs.
“Measures are in place to address challenges in the use and dealing with narcotics and psychotropic substances as we have a Drug Enforcement Agency to address the matter as we have seen increase in the use of drugs amongst youth. Expertise is available in prevention and detection and mitigation within law enforcement organs in line with the provisions of the law in partnership with the private sector and community and research and development institutions and academia to combat the use of narcotics which affect livelihoods of households”, he said.
Mmusi however acknowledged stated that there is no specific data on Botswana’s drug trafficking and use. “While cannabis or marijuana remains a widely used drug in Africa and Botswana, synthetic drugs has proliferated in drug markets in the last decade according to the World Synthetic Drug Phenomenon Report, 2023. Some of the drugs found in Botswana are Dagga/Cannabis/Marijuana, Meth-cathinone (Cat), Crack Cocaine (these are the top three problematic drugs in the country). Other drugs found in the country are Methamphetamine, CAT, Ephedrine and Heroin,” Mmusi asserted Mmusi.