Guinea-Bissau hands record jail terms to drug lords

Two major drug traffickers, accused of smuggling almost two tonnes of cocaine into Guinea-Bissau, have been handed record jail terms of 16 years. 

Colombian national Ricardo Ariza Monje - known as Ramon - and Braimai Seidi Ba, who holds joint Guinea-Bissau and Portuguese nationality, were identified as the ring leaders of the operation and sentenced by a court in the West African nation on Thursday.

Other traffickers found guilty included defendants from Guinea-Bissau, Colombia, Mali and Mexico. They were given jail terms of between four and 14 years. 

For many years Guinea-Bissau has been used as a stopping-off point for the trafficking of cocaine from Latin America to Europe. 

In the past, the military has been heavily linked to the country’s drug trade. 

Photo: Getty Images