Thursday, February 13, 2025

Police on the hunt for gov’t vehicle theft syndicate

Francistown police have launched a massive manhunt for a syndicate that is suspected of stealing government vehicles and exporting them to Zambia. This follows a recent incident in which three armed men attacked a night watchman at the Ministry of Agriculture’s Impala Research Centre and stole a government Isuzu van.

Detective Superintendent Aldrin Ntshitang of the Criminal Investigations Department said on Friday that three armed men attacked the night watch man at the Impala premises and grabbed the car keys from the guardhouse. Fortunately, said Ntshitang, they only managed to get away with one Isuzu van.

Ntsitang also revealed that a 32-year-old Motswana man has since been arrested in connection with the incident and will appear before the magistrate’s court tomorrow (Monday). The man has reportedly revealed that his accomplices, who later made away with the car, were foreign nationals.

Information reaching The Sunday Standard indicates that the police strongly suspect that the recent theft is part of the operations of a suspected syndicate that steals government vehicles and exports them to Zambia. It is not the first time that government vehicles were stolen in Francistown. Last year criminals made away with two government vans belonging to the Department of Animal Health and Production. The vehicles were never recovered. There have also been reports that some government vehicles were found stripped and burnt to ashes near the Botswana-Zambia border.

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