14 Feb 2023

 A lot of effort is being made to detect any passage of drugs as well as other contraband into the country by law enforcement agencies at all points of entry and along international boundaries.

Minister of Defence and Security, Mr Kagiso Mmusi said this when responding to a question in Parliament on Monday.

Mr Mmusi however said it should be appreciated that Botswana shared a long and porous international boundary with its neighbouring countries, which led to some of such illicit substances crossing at ungazetted points, something he admitted was of great concern to security agencies.

“To mitigate this, we have enhanced manpower at the border posts and increased base camps at strategic points in an effort.

My ministry has established the Drugs Enforcement Agency to enhance the ongoing war in the fight against drugs, and its director has already been appointed while recruitment of other personnel is still ongoing,” he said.

He said while that agency was still setting up, the police and other law enforcement agencies would continue taking part in combating illegal drugs in the country.

Currently, he said special operations, public education and outreach programmes at schools and other community fora were in place to help sensitise targeted groups about abuse and peddling of drugs.

He said current penalties targeting drug dealers were adequate, adding that such penalties would continue to be reviewed when the need arose to ensure their relevance to prevailing trends.

Member of Parliament for Gaborone Central, Mr Tumisang Mangwegape-Healy had asked how secure Botswana’s borders were in detecting passage of drugs and what the ministry was doing about the proliferation of heavy drugs in the country.

Mr Mangwegape-Healy also wanted to know when penalties for dealing with drugs would be increased, specifically targeting traffickers and handlers instead of focusing on possession. ENDS