“She was arrested on board Ethiopia Airlines” Seychelles News
TV Salone Editorial Desk
The Magistrates’ Court of Seychelles has remanded for 14 days a female national from Sierra Leone, who was arrested in possession of illegal substance in the country. This is according to a release from the Anti-Narcotics Bureau of Seychelles (ANB) on Monday.
The Seychelles News Agency said, The ANB revealed that the 32-year-old from Sierra Leone (name withheld) was apprehended on April 6 after immigration and customs officers found around 1.7 kg of white substance suspected to be cocaine in her luggage.
“The Sierra Leonean arrived in Seychelles in a group of 115 other travelers in the western Indian Ocean, onboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight. She was immediately arrested and interrogated. Her explanation did not make sense and is now behind bars. She will reappear in court on April 25,” the anti-narcotics bureau of Seychelles said. Three other male travelers on board an Ethiopian Airlines flight: a Nigerian, a Ghanaian and a Sierra Leonean national, have also been remanded for two weeks for smuggling illegal drugs into the country.
The arrest came six days after Seychelles’ Supreme Court sentenced a Zimbabwean female national to five years in prison for the importation and trafficking of illegal drugs in the country.
Elsie Esther Vambe, 45, was sentenced to five years in prison on March 31, for the importation of heroin and cocaine and another five years for trafficking illegal drugs. This is the fourth foreign national arrested in possession of illegal substances since the beginning of the year.
On February 4, a 42-year-old man and a 45-year-old woman, both from Uganda, were apprehended by ANB officers with the assistance of other airport authorities. The suspects, who arrived on an Ethiopian Airlines flight, had 2.52 kg of heroin bullets in their stomachs.
Also, a 51-year-old Tanzanian man, who is also on remand, was arrested with several grams of cocaine hidden in his body on January 28, after he arrived on board a Qatar Airways flight from Kenya via Doha.
Meanwhile, a male national of Guinea Bissau has also been charged for the importation of a controlled drug by the Seychelles’ Supreme Court while four other foreign nationals are being remanded, the Anti-Narcotics Bureau (ANB) said.
Meanwhile, Sierra Leone’s foreign ministry recently informed the public about few Sierra Leoneans working with foreigners issuing passports to non Sierra Leoneans also involving in fake visas and other illegal deals.
Seychelles, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, has a zero-tolerance drug policy after authorities realized their country is a route for drug smugglers in the sub region. The country has recently put in place several measures to combat the trafficking of illicit drugs on its shores, said the country’s anti drugs unit. If found guilty, the maximum sentence for having illegal drugs carries the maximum penalty of life imprisonment.