Gulshan Govind, 42, husband of Junior Minister Véronique Leu-Govind, was arrested by the Anti-Drug and Smuggling Unit following a cannabis seizure operation that stretched across the Mauritius-Reunion corridor. Authorities are treating the case as an organized trafficking network linking the two islands.
The operational sequence began Sunday when Reunion gendarmes launched a large-scale intervention at the mouth of Rivière-du-Mât in Bras-Panon, on the eastern side of Reunion. Approximately 20 military personnel, backed by helicopter assets and divers, mobilized to intercept a shipment of nearly 100 kilograms of cannabis destined for Mauritius. The drugs were packaged in roughly ten sacks and positioned for loading onto a vessel. Two suspects were detained in Reunion as part of that operation.
Information sharing between Mauritian and Reunion authorities then triggered action on the Mauritius side. The ADSU moved on Govind’s residence in Case-Noyale, where officers discovered a vial of methadone and four cannabis plants, both seized as evidence. Investigators are now working to establish Govind’s specific role within the suspected trafficking pipeline, his network of contacts, and any local connections to what Reunion authorities have described as a recently dismantled operation.
The arrest has created immediate political turbulence. Opposition whip Adrien Duval issued a public statement demanding the immediate removal of the Junior Minister from her position as Minister of Arts and Culture. Duval characterized the facts as extremely grave, citing an estimated drug trafficking value exceeding 100 million Mauritian rupees and the discovery of controlled substances at the couple’s residence.
Leu-Govind has stated that she filed for divorce three weeks before the arrest, though she has continued to reside at the marital home.
This is not the first time a family member of the Junior Minister has faced arrest in a drug-related investigation. Benjamin Leu, a former footballer, was apprehended in Reunion in 2023 following a speedboat incident and subsequently deported to Mauritius two years later after conviction in Reunion.
The ADSU investigation remains ongoing. Authorities are working to determine the full scope of Govind’s involvement and to identify other individuals connected to the transnational trafficking operation. Whether the political pressure on Leu-Govind translates into a formal government response may depend on what investigators uncover in the hours ahead, both under the Dangerous Drugs Act and within the broader network the operation has begun to expose.