Main accused in maritime drug trafficking case pleads guilty

The main accused in the maritime drug trafficking case of 180.32 kilogrammes of herbal cannabis, late in July 2020, has pleaded guilty to the charge of the following offences: conspiracy to commit trafficking in of a controlled drug and trafficking in of a controlled drug.

This accused, a 52-year-old resident of Cascade, along with six other accused, all Seychellois males, were all charged before the Supreme Court on August 28, 2020 with several drug related offences and they have all been on remand since their arrest by officers of the Anti-Narcotics Bureau (ANB) of the Seychelles Police Force, late in July 2020.

Five of the accused were arrested in possession of the drugs on July 29, 2020 on a sailing yacht, at sea, within the Seychelles EEZ, during a joint coordinated marine operation which had the participation of ANB, the National Information Sharing and Coordination Centre (NISCC), Seychelles Air Force and Seychelles Coast Guard (SPDF) followed by the arrest of the main accused and the seventh accused on July 31, 2020 at Petit Paris.

The Supreme Court expects to deliver the sentences in this case on October 1, 2020.

Source; ANB