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Guinea-Bissau’s ex-navy chief arrested for drug trade
The former chief of the navy in Guinea-Bissau has been arrested and is being transferred to the US, local media have reported.
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Rear Admiral Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto was picked up on a boat in international waters near Cape Verde, a local broadcaster said.
He is described by the US as a kingpin in Guinea-Bissau's huge drugs trade.
The country is a staging post for gangs smuggling cocaine from Latin America to Europe.
According to a report by the broadcaster RTC in Cape Verde — the island state off the West Coast of Africa — US officials supported by Cape Verde police arrested Mr Na Tchuto and he is expected to face prosecution in the US.
He is among a number of military figures in Guinea-Bissau the US believes are heavily involved in the drugs trade.
US officials imposed a travel ban and asset-freeze on him in 2010.
Last year the United Nations Security Council warned that renewed political instability was allowing drug trafficking to flourish in Guinea-Bissau.
The country saw another military-backed coup in April last year, and the current transitional government does not have full international recognition. — BBC
