Biggest cocaine seizure in Gambian history!

One Banta Keita, a French-Gambian, is wanted for smuggling 118 bags of cocaine into the country.

The drugs, which were found in shipping containers, originated from Ecuador and transhipped at Antwerp, Belgium then Las Palmas, Spain and finally arrived at the Banjul ports on the 27th December.

Banta was born in 1984. He owns a house in Fajara, where he lives with his family.

The seizure is the largest ever by the Drug Law Enforcement Agency. The 118 bags of cocaine have an estimated total street value of about D4.5 Billion.

Former justice minister Lamin Jobarteh has launched a strong denial over claims he cut the nipple of Balo Kanteh, a former rebel commander.

Kanteh was tortured after he was arrested when he and his fellow rebels attacked the Farafenni camp as part of a plan to overthrow former president Yahya Jammeh 17 years ago.

Kanteh who is now 55 years old told the TRRC in December last year his father was made to look on as he got stripped and tortured at the NIA. He had been shot on the leg.

“They removed my underwear and tied my hands and legs. Joe Mendy, Babadinding Jobarteh and Foday Barry then stood over me and started dripping hot plastic on me for me to talk,” he told the TRRC before proceeding to accuse former justice minister Lamin Babadinding Jobarteh who was then an investigator of cutting his nipple.

“That’s what they were doing and Babadinding Jobarteh cut of one of my nipples with a razor blade,” he alleged.

Jobarteh got his chance to respond to the claims on Thursday when he appeared before the TRRC and he insisted throughout he never laid a finger on Kanteh.

“I did not touch his nipple talk less of cutting it,” he said.

“The tortures Balo put on me happened to him in Liberia, so I Allah will judge between him and I,” he added.

Kanteh is a former rebel commander who fought for former Liberia leader Charles Taylor during the Liberian civil war of the 90s.