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Vehicle theft on the rise |
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36 suspects arrested for 491 stolen vehicles
Police say motor vehicle theft is now getting out of hand. The motor theft problem is characterized by few arrests and a low recovery rate of stolen vehicles, police say.
Speaking to The Gazette the Head of Motor Vehicle Theft unit at the Serious Crime Squad superintendent Lazarus Rauwe said they have arrested 36 suspects linked to the theft of 491 vehicles throughout the country last year alone.
He said 57 cases were characterized by violence at the time the robberies took place.
Rauwe said 26 suspects are in police custody while 10 are on bail. “There are so many car criminal syndicates that are fully operating in Botswana. These syndicates are made up of both locals and non citizens,” he said.
He added, “the syndicates are very smooth and sophisticated.” Only 287 vehicles were recovered and the number is very small, Rauwe observed.
He said, “Currently most of the stolen vehicles are sold in Mozambique where the market is said to be huge.” Some go as far as Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, he added.
He said they have identified certain areas along the boundary line that are used by criminals to drive stolen vehicles out of the country and the areas are closely monitored by the security law agents at the moment.
He explained that they are experiencing problems during motor vehicle investigations, especially when vehicles are recovered in Mozambique, Zambia and Lesotho.
“When a case is on going, a person who is suspected to have bought a stolen vehicle in Botswana will make a court application in his or her respective country and the court will then release the questionable vehicles. Therefore this makes our investigation very difficult and the recovery rate becomes very minimal,” he said.
He appealed to car owners to install security devises in their vehicles.
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