Stranding in Réunion – Boat stolen in Grand-Baie: a third suspect arrested

• The two Mauritians pinned to the sister island repatriated

The Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of Grand-Baie arrested a third suspect on Saturday. This is Jérôme Agathe. The latter was denounced by the two Mauritians pinned on Reunion Island, after the Mao boat ran aground on the east coast of the sister island. This boat, estimated at Rs 2.5 million, was reported stolen by the owner on the evening of Wednesday May 29. The third suspect is none other than the owner's son-in-law, a 48-year-old French national.

The two Mauritian suspects, registered as Habitual Criminal (HC), were repatriated to Mauritius on Friday evening and handed over to the Grand-Baie CID. On Saturday, the three suspects were produced before the Bail and Remand Court (BRC) for a provisional charge of theft. They remain in detention.

During their hearing by the CID, the two suspects arrested on the sister island explained that they had rented the boat from Jérôme Agathe. They said they were planning to go on a fishing expedition, but when they reached the high seas, the boat's engines failed and it drifted to Reunion Island. A thesis that Inspector Thakoor's men from the Grand-Baie CID take with a pinch of salt.

In his statement on Wednesday, May 29, the complainant claimed that his boat had been stolen between May 19 and 29, in the Grand-Baie lagoon. The speedboat was found stranded against the shores at Champ-Borne, Saint-André, Réunion, on Thursday May 30. After the discovery of the boat, the Reunionese police checked if there were traces of drugs on board the boat, but the inspection exercise turned out to be negative.

This case is also being followed by the anti-drug brigade, which is studying the possibility that the movement of Mauritians to the sister island could have a link with drug trafficking. Indeed, the maritime area between Mauritius and the east coast of Reunion is renowned as an axis for drug trafficking between the two islands. On several occasions, boats from Mauritius have stranded on this part of the Reunion coast.