BANJUL, Gambia (AFP) – Gambia’s government Monday held a public destruction of more than two tonnes of cocaine worth about one billion dollars seized in the West African nation in 2010.
The ceremony, carried out in the presence of diplomats from Britain, the United States, France and Taiwan, saw the burning of 2,190.5 kilograms through an incinerator donated to the Gambia government by the British High Commission in Banjul.
“Ever since the advent of my government in 1994, I had consistently made it clear that my government would never be a party to any kind of social ill that has the potential of wrecking the future of the citizens of this country, especially the youths,” President Yahya Jammeh said in a statement.
The cocaine was seized in 2010 in a joint operation between Gambian police and the UK Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA).
The seizure of the cocaine, which was bound for Europe, led to the arrest, prosecution and jailing of eight foreign nationals including Venezuelans and Dutch.