The United States Justice Department announced on Tuesday that the son of a former president of Guinea-Bissau had been found guilty of participating in a transnational heroin trafficking conspiracy and was facing a sentence of more than six and a half years in prison.
According to a statement released by the US Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, Malam Bacai Sanha Jr., 52, intended to use the proceeds to finance a coup in the West African nation that would lead to his eventual presidency and establishment of a “drugs regime”.
“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.”
According to the statement, Sanha was a key player in the conspiracy to traffic heroin and organized its importation from Europe to the United States.
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He and another accomplice were taken into custody in July 2022 upon their arrival in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Not long after, they were extradited to the United States.
According to the statement released on Tuesday, Sanha entered a guilty plea in September 2023 “to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance for the purpose of unlawful importation.”
He was sentenced to 80 months in prison.
Since Guinea-Bissau separated from Portugal in 1974, there have been military takeovers interspersed with periods of democratic rule, though elected officials have been able to hold office for the entire term.
Malam Bacai Sanha, the father of Sanha, was first appointed interim leader in 1999 by a junta before losing the election the following year.
After winning the presidency in a 2009 election, he passed away in January 2012 while receiving medical attention in Paris, before serving out his full term.
His son, referred to as “Bacaizinho” in Guinea-Bissau, has worked for the government in a number of capacities, most notably advising his father on economic matters.
AFP
