The US Justice Department on Tuesday announced that the son of the former president of Guinea-Bissau had been sentenced to more than six and a half years in prison for involvement in a transnational heroin trafficking conspiracy.
Malam Bacai Sanha Jr, 52, the Ex-president’s son, planned to use the proceeds of these illegal actions to finance a coup in the West African country that would lead to his eventual presidency and establishment of a “drugs regime”.
This was made known in a statement released by the US Attorney for the Southern District of Texas.
According to the Tuesday statement, in September 2023, Sanha pleaded guilty “to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance for unlawful importation.
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The statement also revealed that Sanha was a leader and organizer in the heroin trafficking conspiracy and was involved in its importation from Europe to the United States.
“Malam Bacai Sanha Jr. wasn’t any ordinary international drug trafficker,” said Douglas Williams, special agent in charge of the FBI Houston Field Office. “He is the son of the former president of Guinea-Bissau and was trafficking drugs for a very specific reason – to fund a coup.”
He was arrested along with a co-conspirator after arriving in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, in July 2022. They were extradited to the United States shortly afterwards.
He was sentenced to 80 months in prison.
