The justice minister of Guinea-Bissau said she received two telephone threats early on Thursday for her investigation into the landing of a suspected drug plane, marking an escalation in the local drug war.
UN drug officials said the late-night threats, while worrying, are also an indication that the traffickers themselves feel threatened.
“You don’t go to such lengths as to threaten a minister if you don’t feel in danger,” said Antonio Mazzitelli, West Africa director of the UN Office of Drugs and Crime.
Carmelita Pires, the justice minister, said she was awoken at around 1am and 2:20am on Thursday by unidentified male callers. The first said: “Shut up. You talk too much. It’s enough,” according to a transcript of her statements to reporters at a press conference in Guinea-Bissau on Thursday.
The second caller, a different man, said: “You think we’re kidding? Put your hand in the fire and see. You’re digging your own tomb. You can’t say we didn’t warn you.”
Pires’ office, helped by Interpol, the FBI and the US Drug Enforcement Agency, seized a plane that landed at the country’s international airport on July 12. Drug-sniffing dogs sent by Interpol indicated the private jet, believed to have originated in South America, had been carrying cocaine, Mazzitelli said. No drugs were found inside the plane, most likely because the plane was left parked at the terminal for five days before authorities in Guinea-Bissau were able to arrange to seize it.
Three Venezuelan crew members have been detained, one of whom is the subject of a previous arrest warrant in Mexico for smuggling over 5 tonnes of cocaine, Mazzitelli said.
Guinea-Bissau is believed to be one of the main transit points for smugglers who ferry an estimated 40 tonnes of South American cocaine to Europe every year. Because the price of the drug in Europe is now double what it is in America, traffickers are increasingly transporting cocaine to Africa.
Guinea-Bissau is so poor it has no prison. Its police officers have no handcuffs nor enough money to pay for gasoline for squad cars. The country’s poverty has made it a perfect partner for traffickers, who are believed to have bought off key members of the government.
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