Customs officers arrested one crew member of the Sima B at the Port of Moroni after it arrived from Majunga on the preceding Friday.[1] They intercepted him during routine checks with a bag containing 2 kg 600 g of cannabis (2.6 kg).[1] Customs officer Allaoui Maoulana said the regular customs staff had already left, leaving only the duty team authorized to inspect passengers.[1] After the seizure, the customs anti-drug brigade took over and began its procedures.[1]
The man, known as Bosco, was transferred to the prosecutor’s office in Moroni, where an immediate procédure de flagrant délit, a proceeding for an offence caught in the act, was opened.[1] Deputy prosecutor Abdou Ismael said the file had reached his office and he had asked anti-drug officers and gendarmes to identify alleged accomplices for prosecution.[1] Ismael said authorities were searching for those people, reasoning that the presence of a courier implied there was a network.[1]
Alhamid Ahmed, director of litigation at Moroni’s customs directorate, said the anti-drug services were working to counter trafficking.[1] Ahmed said the customs anti-drug services were doing what they could despite lacking sniffer dogs.[1] He also said the duty team had carried out the seizure.[1] At publication, Bosco was in pre-trial detention and was expected to attend a hearing on Thursday morning.[1]
