A New Caledonian magistrates court on Friday sentenced two drug smugglers and their boss to jail for trying to bring in cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, LSD and cannabis from Europe.
Yann Lavandier, one of the traffickers, a repeat offender aged 29 who has already been punished in 1994 in Grenoble, France, was given six years in a secure prison.
His accomplice Bruno Amorena was given a three-year sentence, of which one year was suspended.
Laurent Abouab, 36, the main player behind the trafficking to this Pacific Island nation, was condemned to four years, also with one year suspended.
Lavandier and Amorena were arrested at La Tontouta airport in Noumea on February 23, on return from a trip to Amsterdam and Rotterdam.
They were in possession of 87 grams of cocaine, 55 grams of heroin, 80 ecstasy pills, LSD and cannabis.
The drugs were smuggled in condoms that the men swallowed.
Eight others have been given minor sentences for their involvement in the case, in which around 60 people have been detained and 25 implicated -- NOUMEA (AFP)
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