How to smuggle drugs into prison

An investigation by The Midweek Sun has revealed that small packets of ganja can be easily smuggled inside various prison centres of Botswana by using Simba chips packets and alternatively new bottles of under arm roll-ons.

A former prison inmate who declined to be named for fear of harassment by drug lords some of whom are based outside Botswana explains that gone are the days when ganja used to be trafficked inside loaves of bread and bathing soaps.

“Traffickers have devised a new method which is not known except by prison guards who are also involved in this illicit and dirty process. You buy a packet of Simba chips. The drug is wrapped in a small plastic bag which looks like the ones banks use to keep coins. The Simba chips are opened carefully at the seams and the plastic bag is inserted. Once the drugs have been planted inside the chips packet it is resealed using glue,’’ the source revealed.

Apart from the Simba chip packets, underarm roll-on containers are also used to traffic ganja into the jail cells; compared to the chip packet, the second method does not allow for larger quantities to be carried.

The source explains that the drug suppliers carefully remove the ‘rolling white balls’ of the roll-on’s with a knife and then they insert the plastic packets of ganja or any other drugs inside the bottles allowing the drugs to enter the prison without raising any suspicions.

When contacted for a comment on the damning claims of drug trafficking in Botswana Prisons, Senior Assistant Commissioner of Botswana Prisons Services, Anthony Mokento could neither deny nor confirm the allegations but promised to investigate the matter further.