Drugs cash seized by Supreme Court in FIU case |16 September 2014

Criminals organising the trafficking of heroin and other illegal drugs into Seychelles need to make the purchase in hard currency.

The dollar is the preferred currency used in international drug trafficking and Seychellois traffickers most often need to collect and pay for their drugs in this foreign currency. The movement of such cash out of Seychelles provides an important opportunity for the authorities to intercept and disrupt drug traffickers from importing those illegal and harmful substances that would later be supplied to our vulnerable young people.

A good example of such disruption was dealt with by the Courts earlier this year. A total of US $15,000 was seized by the Supreme Court after it was found in the possession of a lady who was heading to Kenya on a flight at the Seychelles International Airport. This particular joint case involved the Seychelles Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the National Drugs Enforcement Agency (NDEA) and was presented before the Court by the Attorney General’s office. There are often other agencies involved, such as Customs, the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority or Immigration.

It was the NDEA officers who stopped and searched the Seychellois lady in January last year when she was about to board the Kenya Airways. During the search the officers found US $6,000 in her handbag, and US $1,000 concealed in each of the four pockets of a pair of jeans which was in her trolley bag. There were also two bundles of US $1,000 in a back pocket of another pair of jeans in the same trolley bag. A further US $1,000 was removed from the back pocket of another pair of jeans and in the inner zipper of the trolley bag there was US $2,000. The total amount of cash found in her possession was US $15,000 which surpassed the accepted limited prescribed by the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

When given the chance to explain the reason for that large amount of cash in her possession she said she had been instructed to hand it over to an identified Seychellois,  a man who has been apprehended in Kenya for drug trafficking.  He and his partner were arrested in 2012 in Kenya, allegedly in possession of 3.71kg of heroin believed to be destined for Seychelles. It is not the first time someone has tried to smuggle cash to Kenya to this man.

In 2012 an attempt was foiled by the law enforcement authorities when a man was apprehended at the Seychelles International Airport trying to smuggle around US $12,000 to hand over to him.

The Seychelles FIU is increasingly focusing on joint work with its partner agency the NDEA to disrupt those who are trafficking drugs into Seychelles and preventing criminals from benefiting from the proceeds of their crimes. Both agencies encourage anyone with awareness of cash being collected or smuggled out for the purchase of drugs to make contact on the confidential line 4610910 so that the importation of illegal drugs can be disrupted.