11 arrested in Mauritania in connection with 1.3 tonnes of drugs seized

Eleven people have been charged and jailed in Mauritania for drug trafficking, Mauritanian justice and interior ministries announced.

A son of former president Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla is allegedly involved. The Minister of Justice, Brahim Ould Daddah, and that of Interior, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, told a news conference that the eleven persons are part of a group of people arrested and wanted in connection with the large quantity of drugs seized on the Mauritanian coast on January 30.

A source from the judiciary also told the AFP, thirteen others were indicted Thursday night.

The folder “is in relation to a total of 17 people” who have been arrested or are wanted by Mauritanian forces “in relation to 1.3 tonnes of marijuana seized,” the Minister of Justice said.

The ministers released the list of 14 accused who all seemed to be Mauritanians. The identities of the three wanted persons were not revealed.