Drug Law Enforcement Agency of The Gambia (DLEAG) has seized cocaine worth GMD 4.5 billion dalasis about $87,040,615.50a at the Banjul port on Thursday January 7, (DLEAG announced on Friday..
“Two tons, 952kg and 850g of cocaine loaded in 118 bags that were labelled ‘Sal Industrial’ were put in a container numbered SUDU7531754 was sent to The Gambia alongside three other containers from Ecuador.
The containers were said to be containing 1000 bags of industrial salt each and arrived at the port on December 27, 2020,” DLEAG said.
The statement also disclosed that three of the containers (SUDU 753 1754, TLLU 2135 228 & TCLU 250 5880) originated from Guyaquil port (Ecuador) and transported by Maersk Line shipping company and they were transshipped at the port of Algeciras in Spain before proceeding to Banjul, arriving on 01st January 2021.
According to the statement, the forth container (TGCU 212 7190) also originated from Guyaquil port (Ecuador) transported by MSC and it was transshipped at Amtwerp, Belgium, then Las Palmas, Spain and finally arrived at the Banjul ports on 27th December 2020.
The statement further said that all four containers were shipped by ECU Worldwide Ecuador SA and consigned to Bollore transport and logistics as their local partner.
The statement revealed that, an in-house bill of Landing was issued by ECU Worldwide to the actual consignee (Circuit Long Trading CLT (Ltd) with Mr Sherif Njie as the contact person.
“On Monday 4th January 2020, physical search was conducted on container number TGCU 212 7190 but was found to be containing only salt. The search continued on Thursday, 7th January 2021 on the remaining three containers, resulting in the discovery of one hundred and eighteen (118) bags containing cocaine in container number SUDU7531754.
“Initial findings suggest that the containers belong to one Banta Keita, holder of a French passport #17CE91360. According to the passport biodata, he was born on 3rd January 1984. He is a resident of Fajara M Section, Kanifing Municipality about 15km outside Banjul,” the statement said.
The statement disclosed that Mr Sheriff Njie is currently in custody helping in the investigation while the hunt for Mr. Banta Keita continue.
“We strongly advise the general public to vigilant and solicit their cooperation to provide information on where about of Mr Banta Keita to the nearest DLEAG/Police Station. The public is reminded that offering any type assistance to Mr Keita to escape or harboring him amount to a criminal offence as provided in the Drug Control Act, 2003.
“This seizure is yet another confirmation that The Gambia like other West African States continue to be as storage and transit route for cocaine by international organized criminal groups. Certainly, these drugs is not destined for the Gambia, thus not for local consumption,” the statement said.