PORT LOUIS, June 14: Two Tanzanian boxers and four officials were arrested in Mauritius after they were found with five kilogrammes of heroin, police said on Friday.

The team, which was in the Indian Ocean island for the African Boxing championships, a pre-Olympic qualification for this year’s summer Games in Beijing, was arrested on Wednesday.

Police first nabbed two members of the team as they placed the drugs, said to be worth 1.8 million dollars, next to their hotel’s perimetre wall to await collection and later picked up the rest.

A Kenyan woman who came to collect the heroin was also arrested.

The team consisted of two boxers, a coach, his assistant, a manager and a doctor.

Tanzania has now been excluded from the African boxing championship which began on Friday.

The suspects appeared in court on Friday but were not charged and remanded for further investigation.

Sports authorities said they are looking into the incident. “We are following up the matter to get more details,” said Shaaban Mwintanga, president of the Tanzania Boxing Federation.—AFP