09 Feb 2021

Police in Francistown on Saturday arrested and charged 25 people for gathering illegally at one of the lodges within the city.

Francistown police station chief, Superintendent Lebalang Maniki said in an interview on Monday that the offenders together with owner of the lodge had to fac the full wrath of the law.

“All the 25 have been charged with up to P5 000 each for being on the wrong side of the law,” he said, adding that the owner of the lodge had also been charged for hosting the event.

Still in Francistown, police were concerned about a growing trend of the sale of bottles of alcoholic beverages.

Supt Maniki relayed three men, all Batswana, were over the weekend caught selling about 140 bottles of whisky and brandy suspected to have been smuggled from neighbouring countries.

The trio, who were arrested in ‘coloured’ location, in Francistown, were helping the police investigate the matter.

In yet another suspected alcohol smuggling incident, three men of foreign origin were arrested for the possession of 349 bottles of alcohol.

The trio were charged for contravening the customs act. 

According to Supt Maniki, anyone violating the customs act may be liable to a charge of between P1 000 and P1 500 or imprisonment of a term not exceeding six months or both.

It had also come to the attention of the police that assemblies of worship especially the praise and worship teams sing without putting on facial masks. 

Several people had been charged for the risky behavior. BOPA