The Police in the Otjozondjupa Region have called on the inhabitants to continue cooperating with law enforcement agencies to curb criminal activities.
Otjozondjupa Police Commander Commissioner Henrich Tjiveze made this call during an outreach awareness campaign on drug law enforcement in Otjiwarongo.
The outreach campaign, which was mainly attended by children, aims to educate members of the public on the impact and consequences of engaging in criminal activities.
Although drug trafficking is a worldwide phenomenon that is not limited to any particular area, places such as Otjiwarongo are used as transit routes by drug smugglers.
Otjozondjupa Region drug-related statistics indicate that 77 suspects have been arrested since January this year.
Otjozondjupa Police Commander Commissioner Henrich Tjiveze urged residents to work with law enforcement in tracking down drug smugglers.
"Report them, give us the power to hunt them down, in fact, we will round them up, we know where they are staying, we will have an identification parade, and you will tell us it's this one and this one, and those are the people we will take to the court for them to be found guilty if the process continues for them to serve their sentences rightfully so for that matter."
Otjozondjupa Governor James Uerikua reminded the inhabitants of the region of their responsibility to keep themselves and the region safe.
"You find the police officer trying to apprehend somebody and the person revolts against the police. We should as a society stand up and be duty-bound to assist that police officer because whatever he is doing is for the safety of the society, Instead of critics saying, Oh, what sort of training did this officer get? How can they be overpowered by a general person?"
A former drug user, Terry Ujamba, shared his story with the public.
"The friends that I thought were friends when we were doing this naughtiness, all of them ran away from me because they were afraid to be accomplished of this crime. I was left alone. I was living in hiding because a case was opened against me. I was living in hiding."
A changed man, Ujamba is now the owner of the Otjiwarongo-based commercial radio station OtjiFM and a member of the Youth Power Group.