11 Feb 2019

Botswana Police deputy commissioner, operations Ms Dinah Marathe has urged officers to take advantage of INTERPOL initiatives to fight transnational organised crime. 

Addressing participants of a Basic Criminal Intelligence Analysis workshop on February 11, she said environmental crime, human trafficking and smuggling, drug trafficking, money laundering and related crimes continued to rob economies and disrupt peace. 

She said ICPO-INTERPOL’s ENACT came at an opportune time as the initiative was aimed at enhancing Africa’s response to transnational organised crimes. 

Ms Maratha said transnational and organized crime was a global concern and as such information sharing was necessary international law enforcement cooperation.

She encouraged participants to maintain cooperation with all law enforcement entities in their countries in order to enhance information sharing for quality intelligence. 

Ms Marathe said Botswana was not a drug producing country but was experiencing an influx of illicit drugs smuggled from neighboring countries.

The biggest problem, she said,  was dagga, which had now infiltrated schools. 

She further said hard drugs such as crack, cocaine, meth-cathinone and crystal meth also found their way into the country through various concealment methods which buttressed the need to strengthen the sharing of crime intelligence and report on transnational organised crime. 

European Union ambassador to Botswana and SADC Mr Jan Sadek said they were proud to support an initiative that was dedicated to enhancing Africa’s response to transnational organised crime. 

He said organised crimes transcends borders, threatening governance, peace and development calling for increased awareness, production of  evidenc-ebased knowledge and the building of  skills. 

Mr Sadek indicated that the devastating effects of transnational organised crime diverted resources that could have been dedicated to develop people, reduce poverty and contribute to the improvement of basic services for communities.

Organised crime also fueled conflicts, corruption, infiltrated business and politics and triggered violence. 

He said shifts in trade, finance, travel and communication had given rise to enormous opportunities for criminals in the region. 

Mr Salek implored participants to improve their knowledge and skills to carry out investigations and exchange information using criminal intelligence analysis. ENDS