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Prisoner for life turned drug baron
The problem is that he has nothing to lose. “I have already been sentenced to life imprisonment,” he said to policemen who tried to question him about the drugs and money found in his cell. Roger Pardayan de Boucherville, 73 years old, who will most probably be provisionally charged with drug trafficking in the coming days, was immediately sent to the Bastille prison in Phoenix where he is supposed to remain for three months “as a punishment”.
Roger Pardayan de Boucherville was condemned to death in 1986 – he escaped the sentence when the death penalty was abolished nine years later – for murdering Sooryadev Jodhun. After 24 years spent at Beau-Bassin prison, Roger de Boucherville was most familiar with the ins and outs of the premises and seemed to have been benefiting from “special” treatment and respect.
Last Tuesday, prison officers – tipped off by an inmate – made a surprise search in Roger de Boucherville’s cell. The discovery of 250 psychotropic pills, paralysing gas and Rs 20,000 in his mattress led them to inform the Anti-Drug and Smuggling Unit (Adsu). As soon as the officers arrived, they carried out a body search: they found 100 seeds of cannabis, six doses of heroin, a pipe, foil paper, a mobile phone, four SIM cards and another sum of Rs 28,000.
Drugs readily available</B>
The police will try to investigate how de Boucherville could have such an important amount of drugs and money in his cell. For the time being, they believe his visitors and new prisoners could have been his suppliers or contacts. They might be the ones responsible for turning him into a drug “baron” or “godfather” of the prison premises.
However, internal sources allege that he could have benefited from protection from people at higher levels. This is why – despite regular rumours of trafficking – his cell had never been searched before and Roger de Boucherville has never really been troubled by the authorities. “I do not think that his activities have been going on for a very long time. I suppose that being a “baron” was no longer enough for him - he wanted to become a businessman too!” comments a prison officer.
This could explain how drugs have been so readily available in prison during the last few years: there may have been a major supplier inside the prison who could afford to do his business quietly, as he was allegedly protected. Internal prison sources even allege that last Tuesday’s search was done only after obtaining the green light from someone at a high level in the prison management.
In fact, two theories exist in prison to explain the lack of surveillance on life prisoner de Boucherville. If some officers mention that he “always referred to his rights and threatened to complain to the Commission of Human Rights or his lawyer” – as a result, prison officers did not dare annoy him and ignored him to avoid problems – others are convinced that he “was paying to get protection”.
This tactic could even extend to some doctors who are said to have been manipulated by the suspect. The fact that the medical belt he was wearing on the day he was searched hid an important amount of money might tend to prove this theory right. Moreover, some prison officers find it hard to understand how he slept in a hospital bed for several months a few years ago – just as they can’t understand why he was granted a diet different from that of other prisoners and his food was prepared in a separate kitchen.
Even if it can’t be denied that such “barons” or “businessmen” exist in prisons around the world, it should not justify that someone should feel he is above the law and can do whatever he wants with impunity…
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