The Prime Minister, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, in his reply, this morning, to the Private Notice Question by the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Xavier Luc Duval, with regards to drug trafficking and Mr Jean Hubert Celerine, alias Franklin, reiterated Government's commitment to do whatever it takes, within the confines of the law, to demolish and disable the drug trafficking network and ensure that there is no safe haven in this country for the drug lords; that they are brought to justice and put behind bars and neutralized.
He recalled that with the setting up of the Commission of Inquiry on Drug Trafficking in 2015, Government resolutely launched a crusade against the drug mafia and since then numerous decisive and strong measures have been taken to root out the drug scourge from society.
According to the Prime Minister, Government has expended tremendous efforts in this battle and unprecedented results have been achieved as evidenced by the record seizures and arrests, which have been acknowledged and commended upon by the Commission of Inquiry on Drug Trafficking.
With regard to Mr Celerine, Mr Jugnauth stated that on 15 September 2016, the Western Division ADSU searched a bungalow occupied by Mr Celerine, and the latter was arrested for possession of several items suspected to be proceeds of money laundering transactions. The enquiry was completed and the case was referred on 07 October 2022 to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for advice.
On 08 January 2023, the DPP advised prosecution against the accused parties for Possession of Dangerous Drugs and also for the matter to be referred to the Integrity Reporting Services Agency as well as the Anti Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism Task Force for in-depth investigation and additional consideration. On 16 February 2023, the matter was accordingly referred to these institutions.
As for the offence committed by Mr Celerine and Mr Jérémy Désiré Décidé, and their conviction in Reunion Island, the Prime Minister stated that according to the Police and Independent Commission Against Corruption, the enquiry has been ongoing. He underlined that the extradition requests for Messrs Celerine and Décidé were received on 21st and 22nd February 2023 only from French Embassy in Mauritius.
