Follow us on:

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube

Archive -Seychelles

Over R750,000 seized in drug raids |11 February 2014

More than three quarters of a million rupees in cash have been seized in the recent past by the NDEA (National Drugs Enforcement Agency) in a series of raids targeting the assets of dealers operating at the high end of the illegal drugs trade.

The first of these raids occurred when agents intercepted a suspected drug dealer who was about to leave the country and seized a sum in excess of US $23,000. The forty-year-old suspect was en-route to Botswana in what the agency believes was a joint operation to buy drugs with a second suspect, who managed to board the plane to Kenya before he could be intercepted. The second man was subsequently intercepted and detained by Kenyan Narcotic agents, and he was also found to be carrying a similar amount of US $23,000.

The money is believed to belong to a locally based drug dealer who is believed to engage the services of couriers to purchase and convey his drugs, thereby maintaining a distance from the overt criminal activity. The activities of this person are also under close scrutiny.

During a second operation carried out on the East Coast, during a surprise raid on a drug dealer’s house, a sum of R57,000 was discovered concealed in a secret compartment in the living room of the house.

A third operation carried out in the Les Mamelles area resulted in the seizure of R38,000, the source of which was investigated. Following the investigation, this money was returned to the owner.

A fourth seizure of cash occurred during the course of a targeted operation in the Roche Caiman area when R13,000 was seized from an individual whom the NDEA had previously arrested for drug related offences.

These operations are designed to target the assets of the drug dealers, thereby reducing their ability to import and distribute their illegal merchandise.

Court outcomes

Meanwhile in the Supreme Court a total of sixty-five years’ imprisonment has been imposed in ten drug trafficking cases, some dating back to 2010, that have finally been brought to a conclusion.
 
All of the cases were subjected to lengthy trials and delays, with every aspect of the evidence being keenly contested. During the course of these lengthy trials several scenarios were presented by the accused in their efforts to discredit the evidence of the NDEA agents, and all were ultimately rejected by the court.

In one recent scenario the accused invited the media to film what was purported to be damage caused by the NDEA. Whereas evidence presented in the subsequent trial proved beyond doubt that the damage was in fact caused by the accused persons while they were attacking the agents who were attempting to enforce the law in the face of overwhelming physical opposition and assault.

In another prosecution the entire orientation of the bathroom of a house in St Louis, in which drugs had been discovered, was changed in an attempt to convince the court that the agents were lying.

 The alterations even included the insertion of an additional window in the bathroom. The court was not convinced by this evidence and arranged to visit the scene. During the course of the visit to the scene the court officials detected the falsehood and observed that the window and bathroom fittings had been recently fitted and altered, and dismissed the claims by the accused.
 
The drug traffickers are from six separate locations including Praslin, and had been operating in most of the key locations used by drug users. The group included some very determined drug traffickers and suppliers to other traffickers and multiple users throughout the country. The conviction of these traffickers represents part of the NDEA’s ongoing targeting of the drug distribution and importation business.

Those convicted are the following:


 
Accused    Address    Convicted of:    Drug Type    Sentence

Oliver Hoareau

 Praslin    Trafficking    Heroin    5 years

Marcus Meriton

La Louise    Trafficking    Heroin    12 years

Ivan Suzette    Beau Vallon    Trafficking    Cannabis    8 years

Patricia Dean

La Louise    Possession    Heroin    3 years

Melinda Denousse

 St Louis    Trafficking    Heroin    8 years

Leo Hermit    Les Mamelles    Trafficking    Cannabis    8 years

Daniel Rose

 Majoie    Possession    Cannabis    3 years

Jacquelin Victorin

 Praslin    Trafficking    Heroin    10 years

George Jean vole    Takamaka    Trafficking    Cannabis    8 years

David Mondon    Takamaka    Aid/Abet Trafficking    Cannabis    8 years

NDEA communique


» Back to Archive