- – Maun Youth clinic nurse reveals culprits allegedly dig up old graves to retrieve human bones, which they then grind into powder for drug mix
- – Police launch investigations following the revelations
- – Teens, aged 16 – 18, have reportedly confessed to committing the illicit act after attempting experiments seen on online platforms.
- – Authorities fear these cases may represent only the beginning of a much larger, clandestine operation.
- – Police warn that the unlawful disturbance of graves and possession of human remains are serious criminal offenses, carrying severe legal penalties including lengthy imprisonment.
Following a shocking revelation at a Maun main Kgotla this week that some teenagers have confessed to digging up old graves to retrieve human bones which they grind into drugs, Maun police have confirmed that investigations into this bizarre and chilling practice have commenced.
The revelation at the Kgotla meeting was made by Matshwane Youth Clinic Principal Registered Nurse, Keneilwe Thankane, during the consultative meeting on the review of the Children’s Act of 2009 that was held in Maun this week. The revised law is expected to address key issues affecting children including violence, disability inclusion, and access to justice, among others.
She disclosed that the facility has received reports of youths targeting local cemeteries to dig up old graves and steal human bones, which they then grind into a powder to use as a drug.
“Some of them in our area have already started digging up the graves of our great-grandparents, taking those white bones, grinding them into powder, and using the product as snuff,” she said.
In a follow-up interview, Thankane revealed that her office has received reports from two teenagers, aged 16 and 18, who confessed to the illicit act. According to the nurse, the pair claimed they were inspired by experiments seen on online platforms. These cases may represent only the “tip of the iceberg” of a much larger, clandestine operation.
As a facility designed to offer a safe environment where young people can speak freely, the clinic face challenges in reporting such matters to authorities. Thankane explained that after receiving these reports, the clinic’s priority is to initiate protocols for medical and psychosocial support, involving social workers and psychiatric nurses.
“If we refer them directly to the police, they would stop coming to us for care,” she stated. “We don’t primarily report these cases because we must protect our trust and preserve confidentiality. We typically engage social workers to build rapport.”
Thankane added that youth clients occasionally provide false contact information to avoid legal or social repercussions.
“They can be elusive; sometimes the phone numbers they provide are non-existent when we try to follow up,” she said.
The reports have nonetheless alerted the police, who have launched an investigation into the matter.
Maun Police Acting Station Commander, Superintendent Moutlwatsi Ikobeng, noted that his office had not previously received reports from health officials or the public. However, after the allegations surfaced publicly, the police were prompted to act. Ikobeng warned that the unlawful disturbance of graves and the possession of human remains are serious criminal offenses.
Under Section 201A of the Botswana Penal Code, which prohibits the unlawful possession of human remains, convicted offenders face a minimum of 20 years and a maximum of life imprisonment.
Elsewhere around the world, there have been previous reports on incidents of people digging graves to steal human bones to manufacture drugs.
In 2024, Africa Defence Forum (ADF) magazine reported that some drug addicts were robbing graves to produce a drug called ‘Zombie drug/Kush’ in Sierra Leone.
Users were reportedly mixing different ingredients of drugs with ground human bones, which made the drug more powerful due to high sulphur content.
The Conversation, also reported in the same issue in 2024 indicting that the new drug called Kush is wreaking havoc in west Africa, particularly in Sierra Leone where it is estimated to kill around a dozen people each week and hospitalise thousands.
The drug was taken mostly by men aged 18 to 25, causing people to fall asleep while walking, to fall over, to bang their heads against hard surfaces and to walk into moving traffic.
