Since 2017, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) was interested in the couple Michel Pascal Valery and Marie Joëlla Valery, aged 40 and 37 respectively. This after an anonymous letter had been sent to this office in Reduit Triangle, Moka. This couple, engaged in the construction sector, was suspected of money laundering, and living beyond their means. Meanwhile, on Saturday, October 2, a team from the Anti-Drug and Smuggling Unit (ADSU) of the Eastern Division arrested them during a raid at their home in Domain Belle-Vue, Poste de Flacq. Heroin worth Rs 16.5 million was seized. A discreet investigation by ICAC on this couple had been carried out to establish a list of their assets, which have just been seized by ICAC after their arrest by the ADSU. ICAC plans to file the money laundering case before it is sent to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Investigators from the ADSU in Moka, led by Sergeant Luckmun, were quicker than the ICAC men to put Michel Pascal Valery and his wife Joëlla under arrest. On Saturday, October 2, they raided the couple’s home in Domaine Belle-Vue, Poste de Flacq based on certain information. Pascal Valery, a contractor, and his wife Joëlla Valery, company director, had been denounced for being involved in drug trafficking. It was 8:45 am, when these policemen of the ADSU arrived at their home. These policemen came across a plastic containing 1037.62 grams of heroin, 2 other parcels containing 52.18 and 11.12 grams of heroin respectively. A sum of Rs 10,275 which they suspect to be from the sale of the drug. Two cell phones were also seized as evidence. These two phones could have been used in this drug transaction.
The ICAC was interested in the Valery’s house in Poste de Flacq valued at more than Rs 6 million, a piece of land in Vacoas and several vehicles that they could not justify financing.
The Valery couple was brought before the court of Flacq on Monday, October 3, under a provisional charge of drug trafficking. He was taken back to police custody.
