A United States Court has sentenced the son of a former president of Guinea-Bissau, Malam Bacai Sanha Jr, to six and a half years in prison for leading a transnational heroin trafficking conspiracy.
the statement released by the US Attorney for the Southern District of Texas claimed the 52 year old was planning to use the proceeds to finance a coup in Guinea-Bissau, 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.”
Sanha was a leader and organizer in the heroin trafficking conspiracy and was involved in its importation from Europe to the United States.
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.
Sanha’s father, Malam Bacai Sanha, was initially installed by a junta as interim leader in 1999 before he lost the election the following year.
He won the presidency in a 2009 election, but died while seeking medical treatment in Paris in January 2012 before completing his term.
