Six nabbed as armed robbers invade Gabs
Pini Bothoko | Thursday June 15, 2017 18:00
Three firearms and a large quantity of drugs suspected to be dagga were retrieved during the arrests, divisional commander South-Central, senior assistant commissioner, Matthews Letsholo told journalists yesterday.
He stated that the suspects are possibly behind the smuggling of drugs into the country. The suspects will appear today at the Lobatse Magistrate Court.
“There is a likelihood that the same suspects are connected and have been committing the recent armed robberies that occurred in Gaborone and in the southern district,” Letsholo said.
“Amongst the six are Batswana and foreigners although we are not yet certain about their country of origin.” Letsholo said the police are very concerned about the recent spike in armed robberies involving the use of firearms where huge sums of money and other property have been stolen and innocent citizens injured.
“The use of firearms has increased in Botswana and we are very concerned,” Letsholo said. “We need people to understand and realise that we do not licence small firearms in Botswana.
“Anyone who sees or comes across someone with such a weapon should know that it has been acquired illegally and they should inform the police because usually these are used in criminal activities.” He said police investigations suggest the firearms enter the country through ungazetted points.
“We have excellent engagement with the BURS and the Department of Immigration and have been able to arrest suspects and seize drugs at the border,” he said. In the wave of armed robberies, a cab driver in Ramotswa was shot multiple times before his vehicle was used in a robbery elsewhere where a huge amount of money was stolen.
It is alleged that the gunmen walked away with close to P135,000 taken from Choppies in Tsolamosese. A week before armed robbers struck Choppies Superstore in Block 8 in Gaborone also at gunpoint and walked away with P112,000 and R13,000.
That same week another armed robbery occurred at Saverite Supermarket in Moshupa where an undisclosed amount of money was stolen. Letsholo said investigations pointed to the likelihood of collaboration between criminals and employees in the businesses, due to the circumstances of the cases.
“It is clear that in most cases there is connection between insiders and criminals, but we have pleaded with the business owners to make sure that they fully know and understand or have information about their employees to avoid employing the wrong people,” Letsholo said.
He also called on the business community not to keep large sums of money in their premises to avoid being targeted by criminals. “We are pleading with the business community to deposit their money throughout the day.
We also encourage them to tighten security through the use of CCTV cameras,” he said.