(Seychelles News Agency) - The Seychelles Supreme Court has sentenced a 50-year-old Tanzanian national to 12 years in prison for the importation of a controlled drug, the Seychelles Police said on Thursday.

According to the police, Shabani  Kizamba Shabani was arrested on September 26 in 2022 upon his arrival in Seychelles on a Qatar Airways flight by police and airport officials. A total of 984.78 grammes of cocaine was found in his possession after he was searched.

Under the Misuse of Drug Act, 2016,  the maximum penalty for importing a controlled Class A drug is a term of life imprisonment and a fine of up to SCR 1 million ($74,200).

Seychelles, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, has a zero-tolerance drug policy and has stepped up measures to combat the trafficking of illicit drugs on its shores.