Gambia Sentences 8 Foreign Drug Traffickers to 50 Years

Posted October 12th, 2011 at 8:25 pm (UTC-5)
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A court in Gambia has sentenced eight foreigners to 50 years in prison each for trying to traffic more than two tons of cocaine thorough the West African country.

The judge said Wednesday he wants to send a signal to other drug traffickers that Gambia is a “no-go” area.

The suspects are four Venezuelans, two Dutchmen, one Nigerian and one Mexican. Just before sentencing was passed down, a prison official told the court that one of the Venezuelans died in his cell Sunday of natural causes.

Gambian police arrested the suspects last year in a small fishing village neat the capital, Banjul. Authorities say they had hidden the cocaine under a false wall in a warehouse. Police say the drugs were destined for Europe.