4 December 2025
The detention of six Mexicans in Botswana raises alarm that international drug cartels are encircling South Africa’s porous borders. Six Mexican nationals appeared before the Extension II Magistrate Court in Gaborone on 2 December 2025, charged with entering “Botswana through an Ungazetted Point of Entry”. The court appearance followed their arrest on 25 November 2025.
The Botswana Police Service, in a statement on Facebook, said preliminary investigations indicated that the men – Gumecindo Contreras Enriquez aged 61, Jose Alfredo Madera Pena, 48, Francisco Alejandro, 33, Jose Angel Corrales, 39, Carlos Alberto Torres Aquilar, 32, and David Hermandez Teran, 26 – had allegedly been illegally living in South Africa’s neighbouring country since 16 November 2025.
“A Nigerian male national, Uchema Charles Njoku, 53, was also arraigned before the same court on a single count of aiding and abetting, for allegedly assisting the suspects to illegally enter the country.”
“Police investigations are ongoing to establish the purpose of their stay in Botswana. The six suspects have since been remanded in prison and are scheduled to return to court on 17/12/2025,” the Botswana Police Service said.
The police added that Njoku – a Botswana resident and “married to a Motswana” – was granted bail.
Source: https://shorturl.at/fU1pr
