US offers $5m bounty on Guinea-Bissau former military leader

The United States Department of State on Friday declared Guinea-Bissau former head of Armed Forces Antonio Indjai wanted.

The US also announces a reward offer of up to $5 million for information leading to his arrest and conviction.

Indjai has been the subject of a United Nations travel ban since May 2012, as a result of his participation in an April 2012 coup d’état in Guinea-Bissau.

He is accused of leading a criminal organization that took an active part in drug trafficking in Guinea Bissau and the region for many years, even while serving as head of the Guinea Bissau Armed Forces.

Reports said Indjai was seen as one of the most powerful destabilizing figures in Guinea-Bissau, operating freely throughout West Africa, using illegal proceeds to corrupt and destabilize other foreign governments and undermine the rule of law throughout the region.

According to a January 2013 indictment, in the summer of 2012, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) confidential sources began communicating with Indjai and his co-conspirator associates in Guinea-Bissau.

Read also: Africa needs more than US military aid to defeat terror

Between June and November 2012, Indjai agreed to receive and store multi-ton quantities of cocaine purportedly owned by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which he understood would be sold for the benefit of the FARC.

Indjai and his co-conspirators agreed that a portion of the received cocaine would be used to pay Guinea-Bissau government officials.

In addition, Indjai and other co-conspirators agreed to purchase weapons, including anti-aircraft missiles, for the FARC using drug proceeds and established a front company in Guinea-Bissau to complete the illicit weapons transactions, further destabilizing West Africa and Latin America.

Indjai has been charged with narcoterrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine, conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, and conspiracy to acquire and transfer anti-aircraft missiles.