02 Jun 2020

Tshesebe Police have raised a concern about the rising number of illegal smuggling of alcohol and tobacco cases in their policing area.

Speaking to BOPA in an interview, Tshesebe Police Station Commander Superintendent Amos Kekgathetse said there was a trend of alcohol and tobacco smuggling occurring every week in Tshesebe policing area ever since April this year.

Supt Kekgathetse indicated that their investigations revealed that these products were smuggled from Zimbabwe where they were produced.

He stated that on May 28, police arrested a man at Bisoli Department of Veterinary Services gate in possession of nine bottles of 750 ml whiskey stashed in a bag.

The Station Commander highlighted that the perpetrators had devised a new plan of stashing alcohol in luggage bags instead of boxes so as to deceive law enforcement officers. He also revealed that the police further arrested another man in possession of 20 boxes of Chelsea blend cigarettes last week.

He noted that the offender was apprehended at Bisoli gate as he was travelling from Francistown to Moroka village and both offenders were charged P2000 each for non-declaration of goods and illegal importation of tobacco.

Furthermore, he indicated that alcohol and tobacco smuggling was common during lockdown, which he attributed to the high demand from consumers.

Supt Kekgathetse stated that due to the fact that liquor outlets were not in operation, some Batswana had come up with ways to deal with and supply alcohol and other substances.

He said illegal sale of alcohol seemed to be a lucrative business among many Batswana looking at the rising cases of arrests and stated that it was highly likely that some of these alcohol dealings were taking place in secrecy without being exposed to the police.

The station commander therefore called on Batswana to desist from buying illegal substances because most of these were banned substances for human consumption, adding that they may pose a health risk. ENDS