Palapye police bust suspected ivory smugglers
Koketso Kgoboge | Tuesday March 19, 2019 15:19
Acting on a tip-off, the police busted the duo at the Palapye Junction mall. The suspects; 29-year-old man from Senete and his 26-year-old companion from Chadibe (near Borolong) were carrying two elephant tusks in their vehicle.
Palapye station commander, Superintendent Waboraro Ramaja said the suspects have been detained and are assisting them with investigations.
Ramaja said the suspects could be charged with the unlawful possession of government trophy when the investigations are complete. He added that the tusks have been sent to specialists for sampling.
“We are at the initial stages of investigations and until we have satisfied ourselves, then they would be charged. We want to establish if indeed the tusks are what we think they are and we also want to establish where the two tusks come from,” Ramaja said.
The arrest comes at a time when a research organisation, Elephants Without Borders (EWB) recently claimed that there was a major poaching outbreak that has hit the country. EWB’s findings irked the Botswana government.