Ex-police officer Moonsamy Govind Basana-Reddi, detained in connection with the investigation into the June 2017 seizure of more than a kilo of heroin worth Rs 18.9 million at Plaisance airport, was granted immunity on Monday, January 16. He received it from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Thus, the prosecution of the man who worked for the Passport and Immigration Office (PIO) will end. But in the trial that will be held against Shahebzada Azaree, he will be the key witness against the latter. The former police officer is still being held by police officers at the central barracks.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Mr. Rashid Ahmine, has decided to grant immunity to 45-year-old ex-policeman Govind Basana-Reddi making him the Star Witness in a trial at the Assizes this year against 50-year-old businessman Shahebzada (Dade) Noormomahed Azaree. The latter, owner of Gloria Fast Food, will face a formal charge of Drug Dealing – Importation of Heroin with Averment of Trafficking”. Let’s recall that Shahebzada Azaree, had been denounced by the ex-agent of the PIO as being the sponsor of this drug shipment.
The heroin seizure dates back to June 11, 2017 after the arrival of flight MK 289 from Tana, Madagascar. Customs officers and elements of the Anti-Drug and Smuggling Unit (ADSU) were monitoring the movements of some suspicious passengers. One of them entered with a bag in the toilet located in front of the immigration counter. Shortly after, police officer Govind Basana-Reddi followed him. It was in a PIO office that police seized two bags of heroin the next day.
It is by viewing the images of the cameras in the enclosure of the airport that the investigators understood the maneuver and had to proceed to the arrest of the policeman. The Malagasy was him untraceable. Nevertheless, the PIO officer agreed to collaborate by participating in a Controlled Delivery exercise in Plaine-Magnien. A motorcycle attempted to take delivery of the drugs, but the suspect managed to flee on the highway, losing the police vehicles.
The ex-police officer Govind Basana-Reddi then explained to the ADSU that it was Dade Azaree who had given him the instructions to get the drugs from a contact and to deliver them. It was based on his testimony that ADSU apprehended the businessman on June 22, 2017 at his home in Morcellement Raffray, Terre-Rouge. During an identification parade, the 40-year-old identified Dade Azaree as the one who had instructed him to take the drugs.
The businessman, close to Navin Kistnah, has always denied his involvement in the drug trafficking. He had obtained parole in September 2019.
