A Nation On Tenterhooks About The Outcome of NDB’s Drug Scandal

The unfolding drug saga is by all odds the longest and most spectacular criminal plot to take place in the country. Ten days on and the information trickling from the police investigation continue to fuel doubts the case won't be closed any time soon, especially with the leading suspects still at large. The plot which consisted of an attempt to traffic millions of euros worth of drug aboard a private jet from the airport of Nouadhibou, the country's second largest city, had been foiled by the police. Media and security sources reported that the police acted on a tip off that a plane suspected of carrying drug was bound to NDB from Venezuela and subsequently waited at the airport for the plane to touch down before they swooped down on it, but somehow the criminals managed to escape leaving the drug and the police behind (lol). Soon an investigation was launched leading to the arrest of several suspects, including well known political figures, policemen, civilians and foreigners. Police which had previously denied rumors of two more small planes being involved in the plot, came and confirmed the information.

This is a brief and sketchy summery of the findings of the ongoing investigation in an what is widely seen as the most dangerous and elaborate crime to rock the country to date. Just how the unraveling of this intricate criminal plot will go down in the public opinion is what everyone is holding his breath to see. Although this might be a distraction from more pressing issues like reviving the economy and addressing the national unity question, the government's handling of this case will determine its standing in the public opinion. Success in conducting proper and timely investigation which will see all the criminals behind bars will undoubtedly sky-rocket government's standing, while failure will nosedive its popularity beyond redemption- note the use of diction related to aviation (lol).

Hoping that the government has seriously taken matters in hand and is conscious of the political and security-related stakes involved in the case, I’ll try to take them to task on the basis of what we already know about the case and on the information released by the national security forces.

Up to now national security forces have displayed a great deal of incompetence and lack of preparedness in dealing with the case. It appears, to their credit, that intelligence information was available about the itinerary of the plane and the time of its arrival, which explained the presence of security elements at the airport. And while availability of intelligence is crucial in such operations worldwide, Mauritanian police somehow screwed up in spite of its prior knowledge of the entire plan. So what went wrong? Why the police failed to capture the crew of the plane and the purportedly prime suspect who was present at the airport and who has bought kerosene for the plane to refuel, according to the security sources. Why the police failed to capture the crew when the plane run out of fuel and grounded 100 kms away from Nouadhibou? And what was behind the police’s silence on the other two jets. These failures and others more get me thinking along with thousands of other Mauritanians that the police was in the know but chose to let the traffickers escape from the hands of justice. This can happen only if security elements are infiltrated by the drug mafia and at high levels, an eventuality which sounds more convincing given the way the crime was dealth with in the last week or so. Today the director of Judicial Police, Mohamed Abadallahi Ould Taleb Abeidi was on the popular talk-show “Bisaraha”. In spite of his excellent Arabic and apparent determination to reassure the public of the security measures in place, he failed to make the case for his comrades’ inability to arrest the plane crew and the major suspect who was waiting for them at the airport.

It is this possibility which stokes the fears of the national public and which represents the real test for our largely untested government. It’s true that the government has a lot of catching up to do to win back the confidence of the people, who have a long history with police’s miserable record in establishing order and fighting off crime. To the public eyes, the police has always been an instrument of insecurity rather than security, taking full advantage of rampant lawlessness and lack of accountability in the country to loot, abuse and act above the law. Some people go even as far as saying that most of crimes committed in NKTT and NDB are shepherded by police and security elements. Now, for the government to turn things around and to make up for these failures it has to ensure a thorough and fair investigation and to bring the perpetrators to justice, now matter who they are and regardless of their social or professional status. But this has always been easier said than done, because it takes a lot more than just a security clamp down. The bottom line here is no less than a large-scale overhaul of the security and judicial bodies which are reeling from decades of spectacular corruption and professional incompetence. Whether the new-look government will be willing to crack the whip and kick start an anti-corruption campaign to purge state institutions of mafias and rings of criminals is yet to be seen. But as much as this case provides a golden opportunity for Sidiocazz (Californian ente mnein) to push through reforms and keep up their pledges of rehabilitating public administration, it also presents a daunting challenge for their will to break up with the past. There is a strong feeling that the government is presented with a make or break situation here, either to grab this case as its chance to right the mistakes of the past or turn a blind eye and see its credibility hitting rock bottom. We pray that they see the writing on the wall and take heed of it.

It’s secret to no one that NDB is a city infested with all sorts of illegal activities, ranging from drug trafficking to arms and immigrants smuggling. It is a costly price the coastal city is paying for its geographical location but also for the complete state of anarchy and lawlessness thanks to which Taya’s cronies were able to sustain their power for two decades. A hotbed for minor crimes, NKTT has seen less exposure to this underworld of criminality as the ringleaders used the city to spend their wealth and boost their political and social influence. The trend then was to do politics in NKTT and do business, which always meant crime, in NDB. The extent to which state institutions were entangled in the world of criminality was evident in 1996 when the Interpol turned the heat on Taya’s government to curb the flow of drug trafficking into Europe and the US through Mauritania. The international police provided the government with a list of suspects, most of whom where from the security forces. But instead of letting justice have its way, Taya was too savvy to condemn his security and set a precedent which could see high-ranking officials from his regime behind bars. He staged a mock trial and freed the suspects.

Now that Taya is gone and we have a democratic government voted into power on a reform ticket, let’s hope that the transparency which marked the government’s dealing with this spectacular crime is a signal of its determination to dig the demons of the underworld up in the open in order to put them to rest. Amin.

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