Chad: officers sentenced to prison for drug trafficking

Ten people, including officers of the Chadian army and intelligence services, tried for drug trafficking to Libya, were sentenced this Friday, July 24, in N'Djamena to five to ten years in prison. announced the public prosecutor and their lawyer. " Of the 11 defendants, six are sentenced to 10 years in prison and four to five years in prison, and one has been released, " prosecutor Youssouf Tom told AFP.

Read also: Chad: a man with a knife shot dead in front of the presidency

A general of the Chadian army, two colonels and an official of the National Security Agency (ANS, intelligence services) are among those sentenced to 10 years in prison.

In January, 246 boxes of Tramadol - a powerful painkiller also used as a drug in several African countries - were discovered in a vehicle bound for Libya and several people arrested, according to a judicial source interviewed by AFP. The value of the shipment was estimated at around 12.3 billion CFA francs (18.8 million euros), according to this source. " All those who are sentenced to prison are sentenced to pay between 25,000 and 50,000 dollars, " said the prosecutor. " The judge followed to the letter the requisitions of the public prosecutor, I immediately appealed ", announced to AFP Maître Alain Kagonbe, one of the lawyers of the accused.

Chad shares a 1,000 km-long border with Libya to the north of its territory. The region is a lawless zone where criminal gangs, illegal gold miners and rebels operate. Much of it escapes the control of the security forces.