Failed coup attempt in Guinea-Bissau planned by drug traffickers, president says

A failed coup attempt in Guinea-Bissau was planned by drug traffickers that were previously convicted in the U.S., according to President Umaro Sissoco Embalo.

The president announced Wednesday three men were behind an assassination attempt against him last week, Reuters reported.  

Former navy admiral Bubo Na Tchuto and his companions Tchamy Yala and Papis Djeme were arrested in 2013 and convicted of conspiring to ship cocaine to the U.S.

The three were arrested off the West African coast in a yacht during a U.S. sting operation, according to Reuters. They were released after serving time in prison.

“During the coup, I see them. I see them with my eyes. They want to make a coup and kill me and the prime minister and all the government,” Embalo said.

“When the shots were being fired in the government palace, Bubo was at the Marine Corps headquarters … and I heard the assailants say we are going to call him to send us reinforcements.”

Last week, a group of people stormed a government building with machine guns and AK-47s. The attack on the government palace occurred during a government meeting.

Eleven people were killed during the attack. Embalo said Na Tchuto was not at the building while his companions stormed the palace. 

It is the same group of people who killed former president João Bernardo, according to Embalo, Reuters noted.

The country has dealt with multiple attempted and successful coups in its history. The area was known as a drug transit point in the 2000s.