Suppliers of drugs keep cops on toes
Pini Bothoko | Wednesday October 18, 2017 13:55
The have police revealed that the dagga, popularly known as Sekanka in the street lingo, is allegedly imported from Mozambique. But whenever it finds its way into Botswana, it is seized in most of the raids. Sekanka is believed to be stronger than other forms of dagga, something that makes its demand high in Botswana. Efforts to arrest suppliers are still nerve-racking though.
“The police are alert and have increased our surveillance because drug use in Botswana is a major concern as it has in the past been linked to a lot of health problems that can lead to unnecessary deaths,” said the Botswana Police Service’s (BPS) director of crime intelligence Nunu Lesetedi in an interview with Mmegi.
He said it is alleged that Sekanka is stronger and more effective as compared to other forms of dagga, something that has made it more popular. Lesetedi said in their recent raids, they discovered large quantities of dagga were smuggled into the country from Mozambique at ungazetted entry points.
He said on Monday afternoon they confiscated yet another 666 grammes of dagga from two Molepolole men aged 37 and 32 who were arrested at their residence in Mogoditshane.
He said the brothers are well-known drug dealers in Mogoditshane and they managed to locate and arrest them after they had gathered intelligence.
“We searched the whole house, but luckily one of them volunteered to show us where it was hidden at the back of the yard. The duo was arrested, questioned and later released. We are yet to take the dagga for testing and after that when we are satisfied, we will charge and arraign them before court,” Lesetedi said.
Lesetedi raised a concern that most of the drug dealers they have arrested claim not to know their suppliers’ whereabouts, something which makes it difficult for them to be located and arrested as well.
“It is a serious setback because no matter how we probe them, the drug dealers always claim not to know their suppliers and how we can contact them. This makes it difficult for us to block the supply of drugs into the country. The police spend most of their time doing investigations to locate the suppliers whilst the dealers could have made things simpler by disclosing them,” he said.
Lesetedi said if the police can manage to identify the people who supply drugs, they will be able to locate them in order to block the distribution of drugs into the country.
He stated that Southern African drug barons, especially from Mozambique and South Africa, are currently controlling the country’s drug market. He said they are the ones who illegally cross the border into the country with the drugs.
“Dagga is taken from Mozambique into South Africa and later transported to Botswana even through ungazetted entries. Through our recent raids, we have discovered that the majority of Batswana are into drugs, either as distributors or as consumers,” Lesetedi said.
He vowed to continue with their partnership with neighbouring countries to intensify border patrols that have proven to be effective, as they have in the past made a number of arrests.