Youths resort to other forms of drugs
Pini Bothoko | Friday October 20, 2017 14:56
On Wednesday four male youths residing in Gaborone North location were caught red handed by the police abusing a certain mixture of a liqueur called Zorba, Broncleer cough syrup and Fanta Grape soft drink. Upon their arrest, the police also confiscated a Chelsea (counterfeit) cigarette and dagga, the latter suspected to have been taken together with the drink mixture.
In an interview, the Botswana Police Service (BPS) public relation officer, Dipheko Motube said on Wednesday morning they arrested four male youths abusing the said mixture in Gaborone North location. He said the young men are all Batswana aged 24, 25, 26 and 29.
“Upon their arrest, we found them drinking something like a Fanta Grape, but with other mixtures that help them to be high. They mix Zorba, Broncleer cough syrup, Fanta Grape and drink the mixture to get intoxicated. We consider this mixture as a drug because they overdose themselves them to get high,” Motube said.
He said the Broncleer cough syrup and Chelsea cigarette that was seized from the suspects are not sold over the counter. “We suspect that they might have brought them in the streets because to obtain that cough syrup you should have a prescription because in the past people used to abuse it to drug themselves,” Motube said.
Motube said they suspect that they (cigarette and the cough syrup) sold in the streets come from neighbouring countries and their entry into the country is shrouded in secrecy owing to strict regulations at ports of entry. He said they have observed that most of the youths have resorted to using other forms of drugs to be high but they will not leave any stone unturned in their effort to curb drug use in the country.
“We are not only looking at the everyday drugs; we are also alert to anything that people could abuse as drugs. Improvising to do drugs is a criminal offence. We are worried because we have realised that the majority of the youths, mostly those of school-going age are into these kinds of drugs, something that puts their lives and future at risk.”
Motube said the sad part about this mixture is that it is possible for students to imbibe it even at school because it looks like a soft drink. “Students countrywide are into drugs and we suspect that their unruly behaviour at school is the result of drug use. We are appealing to parents to be on the lookout and help teachers to curb the situation,” Motube said.
Asked about the interventions into this matter, Motube disclosed that they intend to approach the Education ministry, parents and teachers to join hands with the police to fight drug use amongst learners.
“Parents are the ones who give their children social, emotional and financial support, hence the right people to talk to, especially that most of the students use their pocket money to buy drugs,” Motube said.
Meanwhile on Wednesday after a tip-off, the police also arrested a 25-year-old man of Mmathubudukwane village residing at St Joseph College with 26 packets of dagga weighing 200 grams each at the Tlokweng border trying to cross into Botswana from South Africa.
BPS’s director of crime intelligence, Nunu Lesetedi said they used an x-ray machine at the border to detect the drugs from his Opel corsa vehicle.
The consignment was hidden in the car compartment. He said the 26 packets of dagga are estimated to have a street value of P31,000.
“We are very worried because the suspect is residing at the St Joseph College and might be selling those drugs to learners,” Lesetedi said.