Mauritius Drug Consumption at it's Highest Politicians Involved

The ‘Gros Derek‘ case; one which is the talk of the town for weeks. Ever since the drug lord was arrested, the case continued to make headlines in every newspapers.

The investigation pertaining to this case took a major turn on Tuesday the 4^th of September when the name of 3 politicians were found in the contact list of Ashish Dayal, one of the suspects who was arrested last month.  His phone book was continuously vetted by the IT unit of the police department, ever since his arrest. This is how the shocking revelations came to the front.

Ashish Dayal will be confronted with these findings as well as his link with each of these politicians. What we curretly know is that the implicated politicians were candidates in the same urban constituency in the 2005 elections.

From the information gathered by the police, it seems that they were constantly in touch with Ashish Dayal. One of them is a woman who even exchanged SMS with the suspect. Has the mastermind, Rudolf Dereck Jean-Jacques (alias ‘Gros Derek’), financed the campaigns of these politicians?

This is a hypothesis being privileged by the investigators. It is believed that the statement of the mastermind himself will prove to be valuable for the progress of this case.

Ever since their involvement in ‘Gros Derek’s’ case was made public, our political figures were quick to react. In a statement to Radio Plus on Friday, the 7th of September 2012, the former president, Sir Anerood Jugnauth reiterated vehemently his call to the Mauritian authorities to inquire about drug trafficking.

According to him, the current happenings necessarily call for a commission of inquiry to be established to uncover drug traffickers and their accomplices.

The leader of the MSM-MMM alliance also asked for the names of the politicians quoted in the case of ‘Gros Derek’ to be disclosed as the public has the right to know the truth.

On the other side, in a conference organized in his constituency No. 11, Rose-Belle/ Vieux Grand-Port, on the same day, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arvin Boolell highly criticized the former president and even challenged him to denounce the names of the politicians he claims to be involved in this case.

He also blamed the Mauritius Revenue Authority and the Financial Intelligence Unit for the lack of information in relation to the registration of the X5 which ‘Gros Derek’ possessed and the amount of money he spent on it.

Political involvement in the drugs trade is a recurring problem across the world. Power confers to politicians a feeling of supremacy, of, at times, being above the law and of being capable of either burying any scandalous act or perpetrating it with impunity.

Several such cases involving the partnership between drug dealers and politicians have been laid to rest in the past. Will the names of these politicians be disclosed this time? Will they be subject to interrogation by the police? As we are fully aware of Drug Consumption is at its worst with this current government.