{"id":55571,"date":"2024-03-28T19:37:41","date_gmt":"2024-03-28T19:37:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/?p=55571"},"modified":"2024-03-28T19:12:04","modified_gmt":"2024-03-28T19:12:04","slug":"son-of-guinea-bissaus-ex-president-jailed-in-us-for-trafficking-drugs-to-fund-coup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/son-of-guinea-bissaus-ex-president-jailed-in-us-for-trafficking-drugs-to-fund-coup","title":{"rendered":"Son of Guinea-Bissau\u2019s ex-president jailed in US for trafficking drugs to fund coup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>The son of Guinea-Bissau\u2019s former president has been sentenced to over six years in prison by a US court for leading an international heroin trafficking ring.<\/b><\/p>\n

Malam Bacai Sanha Jr, 52, planned to use the proceeds to fund his ambitions to become Guinea-Bissau\u2019s president through a coup, authorities say.<\/p>\n

He is the son of Malam Bacai Sanha, who led Guinea Bissau from 2009 until his death in 2012.<\/p>\n

Sanha Jr has been linked to a failed coup in February 2022. He was extradited to the US in August 2022, following his arrest in Tanzania a few weeks earlier.<\/p>\n

His trial began soon afterwards and in September last year, he pleaded guilty to conspiring to illegally import drugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cMalam Bacai Sanha Jr wasn\u2019t any ordinary international drug trafficker,\u201d said FBI agent Douglas Williams on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is the son of the former president of Guinea-Bissau and was trafficking drugs for a very specific reason \u2013 to fund a coup that would eventually lead him to the presidency of his native country where he planned to establish a drug regime.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sanha Jr is accused of importing heroin from several countries to Portugal, and also from Europe to the US.<\/p>\n

US authorities say he could be deported following his imprisonment as he is not an American citizen.<\/p>\n

The 52-year-old, known as \u201cBacaizinho\u201d in Guinea-Bissau, has held several roles in the government, including as his father\u2019s economic adviser.<\/p>\n

He reportedly revealed that he was \u201cpersonally involved\u201d in the foiled 2022 coup attempt to unseat President Umaro Sissoco Embalo\u0301, which left 11 people dead, most of them members of the security forces.<\/p>\n

Sanha Jr allegedly told undercover agents of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) that he used drug proceeds to fund the coup plotters, German state-owned broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported last year.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Gambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. The son of Guinea-Bissau\u2019s former president has been sentenced to over six years in prison by a US court for leading an international heroin trafficking ring. Malam Bacai Sanha Jr, 52, planned to use the proceeds to fund his ambitions to become Guinea-Bissau\u2019s president through a coup, authorities say. He is the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":55570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[2355,2361,260],"class_list":["post-55571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-gambia","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"\nSon of Guinea-Bissau\u2019s ex-president jailed in US for trafficking drugs to fund coup - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The son of Guinea-Bissau\u2019s former president has been sentenced to over six years in prison by a US court for leading ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/son-of-guinea-bissaus-ex-president-jailed-in-us-for-trafficking-drugs-to-fund-coup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Son of Guinea-Bissau\u2019s ex-president jailed in US for trafficking drugs to fund coup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The son of Guinea-Bissau\u2019s former president has been sentenced to over six years in prison by a US court for leading ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/son-of-guinea-bissaus-ex-president-jailed-in-us-for-trafficking-drugs-to-fund-coup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-03-28T19:37:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2024\/03\/sm_1711639712.721127.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/son-of-guinea-bissaus-ex-president-jailed-in-us-for-trafficking-drugs-to-fund-coup#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/son-of-guinea-bissaus-ex-president-jailed-in-us-for-trafficking-drugs-to-fund-coup\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Son of Guinea-Bissau\u2019s ex-president jailed in US for trafficking drugs to fund coup\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-28T19:37:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/son-of-guinea-bissaus-ex-president-jailed-in-us-for-trafficking-drugs-to-fund-coup\"},\"wordCount\":320,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/son-of-guinea-bissaus-ex-president-jailed-in-us-for-trafficking-drugs-to-fund-coup#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2024\/03\/sm_1711639712.721127.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Gambia\",\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/son-of-guinea-bissaus-ex-president-jailed-in-us-for-trafficking-drugs-to-fund-coup#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/son-of-guinea-bissaus-ex-president-jailed-in-us-for-trafficking-drugs-to-fund-coup\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/son-of-guinea-bissaus-ex-president-jailed-in-us-for-trafficking-drugs-to-fund-coup\",\"name\":\"Son of Guinea-Bissau\u2019s ex-president jailed in US for trafficking drugs to fund coup - 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