Letlhakane turns into illegal drug haven
Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Friday December 6, 2019 14:59
Now police in the village say they are overwhelmed by a surge of illicit drug-related cases. Police believe that the village is now turning into a huge centre for illicit drug trade.
This is according to the station commander of Letlhakane police, Michael Maphephu.
Maphephu also said that since the beginning of the year they have registered 28 drug-related cases. For the whole of 2018 they registered 33 cases. Maphephu noted that prior to 2018 the drug cases were very few.
“We believe that the village has now become an important location for illicit drug traders, because many residents living here enjoy middle-upper income status, which probably means that a sizeable number of them can finance their drug appetite,” Maphephu said, adding that the police will work hard to lessen trading of illicit drugs in the village.
A sizeable number of cases according to police involve those who directly sell or supply drugs (to those who sell to villagers) in the village. “These figures show that drug syndicates are now targeting the village. The cases are a clear indication that huge amounts of drugs might be discreetly entering the village. What is even more worrying is that we are registering an alarming rate of hardcore drugs such as methcathinone, popularly known as CAT, and cocaine,” he added.
Just last week, Maphephu disclosed that they arrested a woman aged 36 and her boyfriend (30) selling drugs.
He said that they learnt that the two lovers operated from a rented room in the village. He explained that the room was specifically being used to run the illegal business.
“The two partners predominantly stay in Francistown. At their rented house (in Letlhakane) we found drugs such as cocaine, cat and dagga.” The suspects according to Maphephu were arrested following a tip-off from a concerned villager.
“We suspect the partners sell the drugs in small packages and also distribute to others who sell drugs in the village and surroundings,” he said. Prior to arresting the two partners, Maphephu disclosed that they had arrested a middle-aged man selling drugs from the boot of car his at a local bar.
He said that they are still yet to quantify the weight of the drugs seized in relation to the two cases. The suspects in the two cases have since appeared in court.