The case dates back to January 2021, when security forces intercepted 2,952.85 kilograms of high-purity cocaine concealed in a shipment of industrial salt imported from Ecuador. The seizure was valued at more than D4.5 billion dalasis (approximately $90 million USD), making it the single largest drug haul in Gambian history.
Keita fled the country shortly after the bust, prompting the High Court to issue an arrest warrant in August 2021. His co-accused, Sheriff Njie, was remanded at Mile II Prisons. In November 2025, Justice Zainab Nguie Mboob sentenced Keita in absentia to 25 years imprisonment with hard labor or a fine of D30 million. Reports later indicated that Keita paid the fine, though he remained a fugitive until his recent capture.
Law enforcement officials say his arrest marks a turning point in the fight against transnational drug trafficking, which has increasingly targeted West African ports as transit hubs.
Keita’s detention is expected to open new avenues of investigation into the network behind the cocaine shipment. For many Gambians, his arrest represents long-awaited accountability in a case that has loomed over the nation’s justice system for more than five years.
