Roland Routh
Windhoek-A customs official at Gobabis allegedly found 6,875 Mandrax tablets valued at N$825,000 hidden in a bag behind a room at the customs offices in Gobabis on Thursday, according to the latest crime report from the Namibian police. It is suspected that a truck driver hid the bag before taking the truck for a scan. No arrests were made and police investigations continue.
The police at Otjiwarongo also found two quarter Mandrax tablets and one half Mandrax tablet, 70 as well as ballies of cannabis and N$360 on September 20 at about 12h00 after a search was conducted at a house in Oruetoveni location. The total value of the found substances is not yet determined and the suspects, three men, aged 62, 63 and 27 years, were arrested.
In Katutura at David Goreseb Street a 67-year-old man was arrested after he was found in possession of 526 Mandrax tablets valued at N$31,560 during a police operation on September 19 at around 18h30.
Also in Katutura, at a residence in Shanghai Street, during a police operation on September 20 a 29-year-old Congolese man was arrested after he was found in possession of 10 doses of cocaine powder.
The police said the arrests were due to efforts by law enforcement officers and the public to curb drug use in the country and said they want to commend everyone involved by reporting and making sure that those dealing in and possessing drugs are dealt with in accordance with the law.
Scourge of sexual violence
At Omaruru a 64-year-old man was arrested for raping a 15-year-old girl at a residence in Hakahana location on September 20 at about 21h30. According to the police report, the suspect went to the room the complainant was sleeping in, undressed her and had forceful sexual intercourse with her without her consent.
The mother of the complainant was reportedly out of town at the time of the rape incident. The suspect is the stepfather of the victim and it was reported that it was the second time he had raped the complainant. He was previously convicted of the same offence and sentenced to pay a fine of N$10,000.
In yet another rape incident, a 40-year-old man from Okalumpa Village was arrested for raping a 14-year-old girl at Onashikokaya Village in the Onyaanya Area on September 20 at about 08h00. According to the police report, the suspect met the complainant the previous day at the pension paypoint at Okatope Village and intentionally put his cellphone in the victim’s pocket and left.
The suspect then went to the victim’s house the next morning where he found her in the company of her physically challenged grandmother and started to demand his phone. He thereafter forcefully dragged her to nearby bushes where he raped her. The suspect is not related to the victim, but is from a neighbouring village. The incident was only reported to the police on September 21.