Police : fight against drug trafficking remains top priority

Our society, currently, seem to be reeling from the affects of drug trafficking and consumption. Mauritius looks like a haven for dealers who feel free to conduct their transactions, fully complacent with the fact that they are enriching themselves at the cost of especially young and innocent lives. Our legal forces are on the alert and their acumen is being reinforced.

“Thousands of men and women are suffering from the scourge of drugs. Families are being devastated. Many of our youth are seriously compromising their lives, their future and even their careers.  Drugs and drug trafficking are leading to an upsurge in crimes, with young addicts stealing, sometimes even the pensions of their parents and grand-parents and resorting to more serious crimes so as to be able to buy drugs. On the other hand, the drug barons and the traffickers are unscrupulously enriching themselves at the cost of miseries to the drug consumers, addicts and the rest of the population who are feeling the indirect effects.”

These were the words of the Prime Minister, Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, at the National Assembly a few days ago. The Prime Minister made a solemn commitment to rid our country and society of the scourge of drugs and drug trafficking, adding that he will be ruthless against the drug barons. He is confident that the battle against drugs and drug trafficking will be won provided “we stand united and determined.”

This has led the police to pursue a relentless fight against traffickers, our seaport and airport are equipped with state-of-the art equipment and technology to counter any attempt to introduce drugs in Mauritius.

As at 5th December, an astonishing number of 2,156 persons have been arrested for drugs and related offences. The total value of drugs seized so far this year stands at Rs 3 billion against only Rs 240 Million for the whole year of 2014.

This year, there has been a record in the seizure of heroin for an amount of 197 kg against only 12 kg for the whole year of 2014. The total value of the seizure of heroin this year amounts to Rs 2.9 billion as compared to Rs 183 million in 2014. These figures demonstrate an all time high in illegal transactions.

Police has mobilized all its departments in this struggle : ADSU intercepting drugs at airport and port/harbor

Drugs are introduced into Mauritius by air or sea routes, concealed in body cavities or some passengers choose to hide their drugs on their own person. The crews from flights or ships can also be involved. Other methods of camouflage occur through luggage of passengers and of crew; consignments through different courier services; parcels and mails sent through postal services; parcels bought online and imported through couriers or postal services, containers arriving on cargo vessels and parcels thrown at sea and recovered thereafter.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police, C. Bhojoo, is at the head of the Anti Drug and Smuggling Unit, ADSU. According to him, heroin remains the main drug which is imported into Mauritius. Other drugs that are imported are cannabis, haschish, synthetic cannabinoids, ecstasy and cocaine.

“Given the insular character of Mauritius, the points of entry are multiple, rendering border control a complex issue. Combined efforts of the different law enforcement agencies, including ADSU, Customs, AML, Port Authority and NCG, ensure tight access controls and proper monitoring at the port and airport,” he told this paper.

“However, the task is an arduous one considering the increased level of activity and development in these sectors, for example the increase of aerial and maritime links with most continents, including South and East Asia, Australia, Africa and Europe, cruise ships tourism and development in the fishing industry.”

ADSU/MRA/Customs

ADSU personnel based at the Airport and Port as well at the Central Post Office work in close collaboration with the MRA, particularly the ‘Customs Anti-Narcotics’ section. The nature of duties performed jointly at both entry points are as follows:

• At the Airport: Profiling of suspicious passengers, checking of ingoing and outgoing passengers and crews for dangerous drugs, smuggling goods or money, rummage of aircrafts, checking and scanning of incoming/outgoing and left over luggage, checking of airport staff and checking /scanning of couriers/parcels at PATS with the assistance of Police/Customs Dog Unit.

• At the Harbour: Incoming vessels/cruise ships are fully checked, as well as fishing vessels arriving from fishing expeditions around the St Brandon region. This activity also includes the checking and scanning of containers, profiling of passengers and crew of incoming vessels and profiling of persons known to be involved in drug/workers in the Port area.

• At the Parcel Post Office: Checking of parcels and mails at the parcel post office, profiling of postal officers and profiling of persons collecting parcels.

A mutual cooperation exists between the ADSU and Customs whenever cases of importation of dangerous drugs are reported at the Airport. According to procedures, ADSU carries out controlled delivery operations with a view to arrest local recipients of drugs in the process, and the Customs department gives its full support to facilitate the quick exit of the courier from the airport.

Uprooting of Gandia plants

Cannabis, commonly known as gandia, is the only drug which is illegally produced in Mauritius. The plant is cultivated in mountainous regions, gorges, forest lands and in sugar cane fields. This drug is also cultivated at domestic level, that is in small containers inside houses or on roof tops, gardens or back yards.

ADSU gets the assistance of the helicopter squadron using new technology such as GPS in the uprooting operations of cannabis. The assistance of the SMF,GIPM and NCG commandos is also sought for maximum results.

DCP Bhojoo indicates that “drug dealers have recourse to new strategies to counter police efforts at eradicating cannabis cultivation, like cultivating cannabis indoor at large scale using modern technologies, thus making it difficult for police to detect cases. In these cases, Field Intelligence Officers are on the lookout for maximum information on cannabis cultivation.”

Helicopter Squadron

Capt RV Shinde is heading the Police Helicopter Squadron at Plaisance. In a recent report, he indicates that in the combat against drug trafficking, a disconcerting total of 16,903 gandia plants were uprooted jointly with ADSU from January to November 2017.

His other missions consist of 41 search and rescue missions for missing persons and participated jointly with the NCG and the GIPM commandos in several VVIP escort exercises.

National Coast Guard

Captain Manu is at the head of the NCG, a specialized branch of the MPF commissioned in 1987. It is responsible for the enforcement of any law relating to the security of the State of Mauritius and protection of its Exclusive Economic Zone, EEZ and marine resources as well as for the protection and suppression of any illegal activity as per the NCG Act 1988.

During the year 2017, the NCG maintained vigil over the EEZ by undertaking 139 NCG ships sorties and 199 aircraft sorties during which 6,739 vessels were interrogated. No vessel was found involved in illegal fishing in our EEZ during the year 2017.

The NCG has also been involved in Search and Control of vessels at the harbour on arrival. As for the outer islands, the NCG has one post in Rodrigues, one post at Agalega and two posts at St Brandon. All of them are manned on a 24- hour basis and the NCG are called upon for help whenever a medical evacuation is necessary from these outer islands.

The Police Commissioner, Mario Nobin, is satisfied with the positive results obtained from various departments involved in the fight against drug trafficking. “The year 2018 will be a year of ‘Zero Tolerance’ against drugs,” he said during activities marking the 250th anniversary of the MPF this year.

ADSU and the NCG

ADSU works in close collaboration with the National Coast Guard-NCG for the surveillance of our maritime zone and entry points, monitoring of crafts and vessels navigating in our maritime zone, boarding of vessels suspected to be transporting drugs at high seas and search operations of vessels.

ADSU collaborates and exchanges information with other regional and international Law Enforcement Agencies for the interception of drug consignment entering Mauritius.