By Sainabou Sambou
Notorious drug baron Banta Keita, also known as Lassana Kante, was on Monday sentenced by Justice Zainab Nguie Mboob of the High Court to pay a staggering Thirty Million Dalasis (D30,000,000) fine or face 25 years’ imprisonment with hard labour for aggravated drug trafficking.
The conviction stems from the sensational January 2021 seizure of 2,952.85 kilograms of high-purity cocaine – one of the largest drug busts in Gambian history – hidden inside a shipment of industrial salt from Ecuador at Banjul Port.
Keita, 48, had faced ten serious charges alongside co-accused Sheriff Njie. While Njie walked free on all counts, Keita was dramatically acquitted on nine charges, including conspiracy to import drugs and eight counts of money laundering linked to luxury properties, a Range Rover, a Volkswagen Beetle, and a speedboat.
Justice Nguie Mboob ruled that the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Keita’s considerable assets were purchased with the proceeds of crime. Defence counsel, Senior Counsel Sheriff M. Tambadou, had argued the wealth originated from a €480,000 inheritance from his client’s late father-in-law in Cape Verde – a claim the prosecution branded “fanciful” but could not conclusively disprove.
However, on the single count of aggravated drug trafficking, the judge found Keita guilty, describing him as “the sole importer” who exercised constructive possession over the 118 bags of cocaine concealed among four containers cleared through his shell company, Circuit Long Trading Ltd. The company, the court heard, had been registered using identities of unsuspecting individuals.
Damning evidence included a bill of lading listing Sheriff Njie as consignee (who later pointed investigators to Keita), forensic confirmation of the substance as cocaine after tests in Senegal, and a $21,350 bank transfer to Ecuador traced to Circuit Long Trading’s account.
Delivering the sentence, Justice Nguie Mboob noted Keita’s expressed remorse and clean prior record, opting for a fine rather than mandatory life imprisonment. “The quantity involved is astronomical,” she stressed, adding that the D30 million penalty reflected both the gravity of the offence and the need for deterrence.
The State immediately signaled its intention to appeal both the acquittals and the sentence. Keita, who has remained at large, was granted bail pending appeal at an unprecedented D50 million with two Gambian sureties owning property of equivalent value. His lawyers’ plea to pay the fine in instalments was flatly rejected.
