Confirming the old adage that there is no honor among thieves, authorities in Namibia say that witch doctors in the country have been selling 'enchanted dolls' to criminals with the false promise that the objects will prevent them from being arrested. According to a local media report, police have noticed an increasing number of ne'er-do-wells who wind up in custody while in possession of the purportedly powerful figurines. Cops pointed to a specific incident wherein a pair of miscreants were recently caught having stolen a staggering 35 sheep from an unfortunate farmer and, upon being searched, it was discovered that they had one of the proverbial 'get out of jail free' dolls.

When questioned, the man in possession of the small figurine, likened to the mischievous creature known as a tokoloshe, explained that he had purchased it from a witch doctor who assured him that it would allow him to commit all manner of crimes without getting caught. "We are seeing more of this type of thing," police official Ileni Shapumba explained, "the criminals value these tokoloshes and will even start crying if we threaten to destroy them."

He went on to lament that "these tokoloshes give them the confidence that they will not be caught, and this is wrong. It must stop. If you commit a crime the police will catch you, whether you have a tokoloshe or not." While that would certainly appear to be the case, one can't help but appreciate the cleverness of the witch doctors who are selling the dolls since either the criminals manage to avoid being arrested and, in turn, believe that there is magic imbued in the objects or, if they are caught, they've got bigger problems than the so-called sorcerer who tricked them into buying the enchanted figurine in the first place.