The son of a former president of Guinea-Bissau has been sentenced to more than six and a half years in prison for his involvement in a transnational heroin trafficking conspiracy, said the US Justice Department, on Wednesday.
A statement released by the US Attorney for the Southern District of Texas stated that Malam Bacai Sanha Jr, 52, planned to use the proceeds to finance a coup in the West African country that would lead to his eventual presidency and establishment of a “drugs regime.”
“Malam Bacai Sanha Jr. wasn’t any ordinary international drug trafficker,” said Douglas Williams, special agent in charge of the FBI Houston Field Office.
“He is the son of the former president of Guinea-Bissau and was trafficking drugs for a very specific reason – to fund a coup.”
Sanha was a leader and organizer in the heroin trafficking conspiracy and was involved in its importation from Europe to the United States, according to the statement.
In September 2023, Sanha pled guilty “to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance for unlawful importation,” according to Tuesday’s statement.
He was sentenced to 80 months in prison.
He was arrested along with a co-conspirator after arriving in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, in July 2022.
They were extradited to the United States shortly afterwards.
