BURS Unleashes More Sniffer Dogs At Border Posts
Gaone Marumoloa | Monday February 20, 2017 18:00
Speaking at a graduation ceremony for sniffer dogs and dog handlers recently, BURS borad chairperson, Taufila Nyamadzabo said the ultimate objective of seeking to create sniffer dogs capabilities within the BURS border control environment is to complement other law enforcement initiatives geared at protecting the people of Botswana against harmful social, health, security and economic effects of cross border criminal activities.
The dogs are trained to detect illicit drugs, endangered species, arms and ammunition, and currencies.
Nyamadzabo further added that evidence has shown that the use of sniffer dogs by law enforcement agencies worldwide for counteracting cross border trafficking in habit forming drugs has been the most effective, primarily because dogs are trainable and easy to deploy.
“As a way of addressing cross border smuggling, BURS introduced non-intrusive scanners in 2012. The total cost of these scanners and external works amounted to P43.6 million. Although the scanners are proving their worth, it is not enough because trade patterns and routes keep on evolving,” he said. Nyamadzabo maintained that the dogs that BURS has procured have been imprinted with the capabilities to detect, amongst others, narcotics, endangered species, currency, copper wire and tobacco products.
He added that with the unleashing of the sniffer dogs, BURS is afforded the opportunity to reduce the turnaround times required to process cargo and people through ports of entry. “We have done a risk analysis over the years and have found potential places for smuggling and that’s where the dogs will be deployed, so as we grow as BURS and when the smuggling grows, the increment of detector dogs will be considered.”
A dog trainer and also a graduate on the day, Modiredi Kutoro said he was one of the eight that were selected from close to 100 candidates for dog handling. He said working with dogs was a great experience as they had to go through two months of training and have built a relationship with the dogs.
BURS currently has scanners stationed at Tlokweng border and the GABCON station.
On top of money and drugs, BURS says alcohol and tobacco are some of the most smuggled products into Botswana because of the high taxes charged here.
When excise, levies and VAT are all factored in, importation of tobacco and alcohol into Botswana attracts almost a 100% tax on top of the purchase price.