99 suspects in district's 82 cases of stock theft
Boteti Sub District has recorded 82 cases of stock theft in the ongoing Kgomokhumo anti-stock theft operation.
Botswana Police Public Relations Officer, Assistant Commissioner Dipheko Motube said this involves 49 livestock and that 99 suspects were arrested. He said that 43 cattle were recovered by Police, while six of them are yet to be recovered.
Motube highlighted that often stock thieves target calves for the zero tooth market. They have also observed instances where calves are sold at a cost of P500 and P800 and later taken to feedlots to prepare them for the more established abattoirs in the Southern part of the country.
He said they have arrested five suspects in connection with two separate cases of stealing livestock. Last week Thursday three men aged between 26 and 36 were arrested after they were found in possession of a carcass suspected to be of a stolen cow.
Motube appealed to the public in Boteti region to report the return of their livestock in order to trace them back to their last handler. He said since the re-launch of Kgomokhumo operation in the Boteti Region in May, they have realised that the suspects have started to release stolen cattle and some have resorted to rebranding or killing them in order to evade police.
He added that there have been complaints that stock theft penalties are not stringent and that the government has since tightened the law.