Usalama operation a success, say police |19 August 2023
Allen Suzette, principal biosecurity officer (Photo: Sunny Esparon)
The Seychelles police have hailed the latest USALAMA Operations as a successful one.
The five-day operation which started on Monday August 14, 2023 and ended yesterday, was carried out by several government entities such as customs department, Fair Trading Commission, immigration department, Public Health Authority, Seychelles Licensing Authority, Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority and Seychelles Ports Authority.
Usalama, which means safety, is an Interpol supported operation conducted in Eastern and Southern Africa targeting a range of cross border crimes such as human and drug trafficking, wild life crimes, copper cables, smuggling of precious minerals and trafficking of small arms and light weapons.
In a press conference held at the Central Police Station in Victoria yesterday, assistant superintendent and head of service delivery, Marcus Jean explained that different offences were targeted such as wholesalers/importers, retailers, warehouses, ports and airport as well as drug-related offences.
The operation on Mahe saw the participation of general duty officers along with other stakeholders. However, on the last day of the operation yesterday, there was the involvement of different police units including the drug unit, public order and tactical response unit, and the counter terrorism unit, amongst others, as there were drug transactions reported in targeted districts. Several shops were also dealt with.
According to the police, many people were arrested throughout the week in Corgat Estate, Les Mamelles, Plaisance (Dan Tol), Kosovo (Roche Caïman) and Chetty flats (Anse Aux Pins).
On the last day of the operation, there were two arrests related to offensive weapons, as well as three drug-related cases, according to the police.
Vehicles without road licence and insurance were also intercepted.
ASP Jean proclaimed that overall, the operation was a success.
“For us, it is an operation where all the stakeholders have expressed their commitment to conduct the exercise regularly, instead of just waiting to team up to do it. We are even considering roping in the media so they will have an idea how the operations take place,” he stated.
He also noted that there has been a decrease in the ........number of crimes but an increase in the number of people being caught due to the partnership with the various stakeholders.
“We do everything at the same time so that way people do not expect only the police force,” he stated.
For her part, public health officer Florence Sirame said there were 10 officers who inspected 44 shops. They issued 13 verbal warnings, four emergency closures, eight voluntary closures and seven improvement notice.
“The issues which we observed in the shops included the accumulation of dust in the goods which means they are not being properly cleaned, a lot of expired goods, labelling issues on products such as them not being in the appropriate readable language and even rodent infestation where we saw live rodents in action,” said Ms Sirame.
The Public Health Authority also inspected 12 warehouses; five of which were satisfactory, five received verbal warnings, a closure notice was issued as well as an improvement notice.
“This was a good exercise to pick up shops which we had missed out on in normal operations,” she stated.
Manager of customs Kelvin Didon said custom officers based at the port were involved since Monday and on Tuesday onwards some of them carried out operations at sea and boarded several boats.
The custom officers also assisted in operations conducted in retail shops. “Compared to last year, this time around we did not have cases where things that had not been declared, were on sale,” stated Mr Didon.
However, some undeclared items were detected in containers and other imported parcels.
Mr Didon said these operations will continue outside of the Usalama exercise to act as a deterrent to those thinking of breaking the law.
For his part, principal immigration officer Francis Vadivello stated that the immigration department has taken part actively since day one, and has taken action against a few people.
Five persons who broke the conditions regarding their gainful occupation permit (GOP) will be deported. “I am launching an appeal to all shop owners. The immigration department is not targeting you. We just want you to respect immigration laws in terms of GOP. We will continue to carry out visits outside of the operation and will take necessary actions in instances where we see that immigration laws are not being respected,” stated Mr Vadivello.
The Fair Trading Commission was represented by analyst Curtis Naiken who said they were involved in three days of operation, with the main focus being on retail shops and warehouses.
Two sections of the law were verified, namely section 74 which concerns labelling and trade descriptions and section 76 which concerns shelf life and expired goods.
Forty-six (46) retail outlets were covered and 42 breached the two aforementioned sections of the law and in the 10 warehouses inspected, four breached the law.
The retail outlets and warehouses will be issued with fixed penalties and in total the fine given out accumulated to R268,000. The offenders were repeated ones. “We did not get a chance to cover all sections of the law because of time constraint but we concentrated on those that are more common and that affect the public more, especially the language. Consumers need to know what is written on the product in case they might have health issues related to it,” stated Mr Naiken.
Principal biosecurity officer of the agriculture department Allen Suzette stated that they were active on all four days at the airport, seaport and in retail shops and warehouses.
According to him, a consignment that came in at the airport was seized as it did not meet the biosecurity requirement. Four importers also breached the biosecurity measures and actions will be taken against them, with two being fined.
Furthermore, he emphasised that citizens should have a biosecurity import permit to import things which are plant-based raw material.
“We are noticing that there are a lot of things coming in that are plant-based, such as wooden furniture. We are intercepting a lot of consignments that are entering the country where people do not have permit,” said Mr Suzette, adding that people can collect their permit at the Espace building.
During yesterday’s debriefing, the team also broached the issue of Praslin and La Digue where they also hope to carry out a similar activity.
Usalama is a regional operation led by the Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation (EAPCCO) and the Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation (SARPCCO) with the support of Interpol.
Seychelles is a member of EAPCCO, alongside Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
ARPCCO member countries are Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Sunny Esparon
