 | The loot seized in Guinea-Bissau's largest ever drug bust last September included more than 20 vehicles, $3m, $90k worth of wine and porridge found in a warehouse, and 1.8 tonnes of cocaine hidden in sacks of rice. Operation Navara culminated in 12 men being arrested. They were sentenced to between 4 and 16 years in prison last month. The US, along with the UN, labelled the former Portuguese colony along the Atlantic Ocean a narco-state a decade ago.
Former navy chief Bubo Na Tchuto is one high-profile official to have been convicted of drug trafficking. Involved in several failed coup attempts, he was designated a "drug kingpin" and was arrested in a sting in 2013. The military has been influential in Guinea-Bissau since independence from Portugal in 1974. It has staged at least nine coups. This has made the country a fertile ground for drug barons. |
