Regional drug barons invade Botswana
Pini Bothoko | Friday October 13, 2017 12:53
It has since being established that the demand for drugs in Botswana is currently too high looking at their incessant flow into the country. Following recent police raids, drug mules have been arrested with large quantities of drugs which were confiscated upon the arrests. The BPS revealed that the country is currently grappling with the high level of crime incidents, which are linked to the growing use of drugs. The director of crime intelligence at the Botswana Police Service (BPS), Nunu Lesetedi told Mmegi that drug use is spiraling out of control in Botswana, hence the recent raids that got people’s attention, especially since they were broadcast live on Btv. Lesetedi said the BPS have established that the regional drug barons control the local drug market. “We have discovered that drugs come into the country mostly from Swaziland, South African and other foreign destinations. They are working together with the locals who are the distributors and consumers. The use of drugs in Botswana, especially in most of urban areas is worrisome and causing a huge serious concern. We will not stop with our raids until these people stop smuggling and using drugs. We want to block the supply of drugs into the country completely,” Lesetedi said.
He said that most common drugs smuggled into the country are marijuana, crack, methcathinone popularly known as cat, madaena, and cocaine to mention a few. He said that some Batswana have found a niche in selling drugs because they have been arresting them with high numbers ever since the BPS started their recent raids. Lesetedi said that they are currently on the ground, even doing border patrols to stop the supply of drugs into the country before the situation gets out control.
He said that the impact of drug use can be more disturbing as it can affect people’s lives and ruin their future, fuel crime and threaten the country’s economy.
“I am worried more people are into drugs, something that can affect their future as they can end up involved in crimes acting under the influence of drugs, hence putting their lives and of others in danger. Due to excessive use of drugs, we have people who have turned into street kids and some are mentally disturbed because of drugs,” Lesetedi said.
He said he was happy with the cooperation they get from neighbouring countries' law enforcement agencies, which was bearing fruit.