- 39 elephant tusks originating from Botswana seized in Namibia
- Nationals from both countries arrested across borders
Botswana and Namibia authorities’ recent joint investigations in Katima Mulilo, Namibia have resulted in the arrest of three Zambian nationals, one Angolan citizen and a Namibian national, where a total of 39 elephant tusks originating from Botswana were seized.
This was revealed by District NO.7 Inspector Kennedy Itumeleng during the Chobe District Council and Zambezi Regional Council Twinning Agreement Meeting held in Kasane this week.
According to Itumeleng, the first incident happened on the 24th November 2023 when the Namibian police in collaboration with the ministry of environment and tourism and the Namibian Defence Force (NDF) arrested one Namibian male aged 37 in possession of 24 elephant tusks while three other unknown Zambians escaped.
He said that on the 26th November the team also arrested three Zambian citizen males and one Angolan male in possession of 15 elephant tusks. Itumeleng stated that during the interview it was discovered that the tusks were poached at the Linyanti-Kwando area in Botswana and the suspects are currently serving prison terms in Namibia.
He further revealed that on the 3rd December 2023, the joint investigations were also conducted by two Police authorities at Ngoma Police Station whereby three Namibian nationals were arrested for stock theft.
Itumeleng expressed that during the interview it was discovered that they killed a bull from Botswana belonging to one Motswana male whose cattle post is situated in Munga area. He noted that a case of stock theft was opened and the accused appeared in court on December 2023 and the matter was trialled on the 24th and the accused was sentenced to three years imprisonment.
‘‘On the 29th January 2024 Kachikau Police recorded a case of office breaking at Muchenje filling station and Botswana police suspected that the perpetrators might have crossed into Namibia. The information was shared between Kachikau Police and Ngoma Police Station in Namibia and the intelligence resulted in establishing that two well-known Batswana criminals were the ones behind the incident and had crossed illegally into Namibia.
Itumeleng added that there was another joint investigation out of which the Namibian Police managed to arrest two Batswana males who were found in possession of housing breaking implements with their bag containing a crow bar grinder, two screw drivers, pliers, electric plier cutter, electric extension cable as well as white adidas sneakers, black puma sneakers, black adidas sneakers and assorted clothing.
He stated that the suspects were charged for being in possession of house breaking implements and illegal entering into Namibia and were trialed before Ngoma Magistrate Court on the 26th April 2024. The first accused was not found guilty and discharged while the second accused was fined 1000 Namibian dollars and three months imprisonment in default of payment.
‘‘The joint patrols that have been conducted between the two countries during the year 2023 were two in number, the first one was conducted between the 20th and the 23rd February 2023. The patrol was conducted at Shaile, Linyanti and Kwando targeting illegal fishing and criminal activities. The collaboration was a patrol that was held at Ihaha, Linyanti, Savuti, and it was targeting criminal activities that were rampant around campsite on the Botswana side,’’ he said.
On the year 2024, Itumeleng indicated that there was only one joint patrol that was held on the 20th July 2024 between Kwando and Linyanti and was targeting criminal activities and illegal fishing.
