By: Dawda Baldeh
The Drug Law Enforcement Agency of The Gambia (DLEAG) between January and December 2023 seized nine firearms including seven pistols, one hunting gun, and a rubber bullet pistol, leading to the apprehension of individuals who were found to own firearms without a license, proper authorization, or documentation.
The cases of these people were handed over to The Gambia Police Force (GPF) for further processing and necessary actions.
The cumulative total of rounds seized equates to one hundred and fifty-three (153) live rounds, three (3) shell casings, and four (4) rubber bullets.
Detailed below is a list of cases registered by the Agency for the said reporting period.
• DLEAG operatives stationed at the Giborro border post apprehended a Senegalese National in the person of Mame Ousman Niang of Thies with an MOD 85 automatic pistol and seventeen (17) live rounds.
He was travelling from Kombo Gunjur where he owns a compound to Abene village in Cassamance and he was with his wife and three (3) children. The incident happened on the 1st of January 2023.
• DLEAG and JAITF operatives stationed at the Airport arrested one Benjamin Da Silva, a Bissau Guinean / Portuguese national who was travelling with Royal Air Maroc with a hunting gun bearing serial number cal. 5.50 (0.22) 90-G22HT-005865 made in Turkiya.
The suspect who owns a compound in Giborro in The Gambia claimed that he uses the gun for hunting. The incident happened on the 4th of March 2023.
• The special operations squad arrested one Baba J. Susso with one (1) block of cocaine, a rubber gun four (4) rubber bullets, a taser gun, and a knife.
The suspect fired rubber bullets at the team leader who sustained minor injury.
The said incident happened on the 24th of August 2023 around the Coastal Road Highway.
• One Yankuba Gassama of Banjul was arrested with five (5) rounds of 8mml calibre EKOL- TUNA PISTOL, five (5) live rounds, and some quantities of cannabis sativa. The serial number of the said pistol is ET-1040033.
The incident occurred on the 16th of September 2023.
• DLEAG operatives stationed at Giboro arrested a pistol from one Mustapha Badjie, an ex-Gendamerie Officer who now works in a night club in Dakar.
The suspect is from a village called Balingo in Cassamance.
• DLEAG and (Joint Airport Interdiction Task Force (JAITF) operatives stationed at the Banjul International Airport apprehended one Buba Bojang, a Gambian/American National with a new pistol and one hundred (100) live rounds.
The suspect is a native of Brufut travelling with SN Brussels airline.
• DLEAG and JAITF operatives stationed at BIA arrested one Antoine Francois Cornette De Saint Cyr a French National on the 28th of January 2023 with eight (8) live rounds and three (3) shell casings that he claims he uses for hunting.
During interrogation, he claimed that his friends placed the rounds in his bag without his notice.
He was scheduled to travel to France with SN Brussels.
• DLEAG operatives stationed at the Airport intercepted an American citizen with an empty pistol that was registered in the USA but not The Gambia.
The suspect during interrogation confessed to owning the pistol and the bag in which it was found but not the box said to be containing firearms and ammunition by Tap Portugal.
• A Joint investigation team discovered a pistol and twenty-three (23) live rounds at the compound of one Ndeneh Musa Faal at Bijilo on the 4th of September 2023.
The matter was handed over to GPF for prosecution and he was convicted and fined D 50,000.00 while the pistol and rounds were handed over to the Police Intervention Unit.
• DLEAG operatives stationed at the Amdalai border post arrested a Senegalese National with twenty pills of ecstasy, a pistol, and four live rounds.
The said incident happened on the 9th of October 2023.
In addition to these seizures of firearms, DLEAG also arrested 623 suspects for drug trafficking in 2023.
