Two Seychellois women arrested and $142 thousand worth of heroin seized as NDEA operation targets importation routes

The crest of the NDEA

(Seychelles News Agency) - The Seychelles National Drugs Enforcement Agency, NDEA, has reported the arrest of two Seychellois women who were attempting to import half a kilo of what is suspected to be heroin drugs into the country.

The pair were arrested yesterday evening upon arrival from Kenya, as a result of an NDEA operation targeting importation routes into the country.

According to a press statement issued by the anti-narcotics agency this afternoon, the two suspects had the drugs “internally concealed, making it impossible to detect under normal circumstances.”

The NDEA’s Deputy Chief Officer Liam Quinn, told SNA that they had to be brought to the hospital for the drugs to be recovered.

“NDEA, acting on intelligence, had profiled the two suspects over time and decided to take action as they arrived back in the country from Kenya,” reads the statement.

“Investigations revealed that the suspects had travelled out of the country en route to Kenya. It has also been established that both travelled onwards from Kenya to Madagascar before returning to Seychelles via Kenya.” 

One of the two packets of suspected heroin that two Seychellois women had 'internally concealed' and were trying to smuggle into the country yesterday evening. (NDEA) Photo License: CC-BY

The two women are said to be a retailer in her early forties and a shop assistant in her twenties and they are the latest to be arrested trying to smuggle drugs into Seychelles.

The authorities in Madagascar have reported the arrest of two people, a Seychellois man and a Kenyan woman, trying to smuggle heroin drugs to the Indian Ocean island nation in recent weeks.

With regards to yesterday evening’s seizure, the Seychelles anti-narcotics agency is satisfied that the suspects are part of a network of importers, some of whom are located outside the jurisdiction, aided by others operating from within the jurisdiction.

The estimated street value of the half a kilo of heroin seized yesterday is almost $142 thousand.

The two women have already been brought to Court and have been remanded in police custody until December 21, while the investigation is ongoing.

“The NDEA has on many occasions issued warnings to any individuals who are approached and offered incentives to import drugs. Engaging in such activities, whether on their own behalf or otherwise, risks arrest and imprisonment for a long number of years, either in this country or abroad,” warns the NDEA in its statement.

The value of illegal drugs seized in the Indian Ocean island nation so far in 2015 including the latest operation yesterday, amounts to around $15 million.

Aside of targeting drug trafficking, the NDEA has also set up a new unit aiming to identify and seize ill-gotten assets possessed by individuals that can be linked to the illegal trade.