An American military consultant, Scott Bradley Mertz, arrested some weeks ago on Mauritian soil for suspected heroin connections has turned out to be a security headache and a big  challenge for the local police force.

The cops assigned to keep vigil on him are almost on their toes round the clock, even refusing to blink. The prisoner they have is no ordinary one. He's a trained US commando who knows all the beans about how to escape and mount any high-level operations. Whispers from police corridors state that the former commando requires specialist 24 hour supervision. The cops fear his colleagues may mount a rescue operation any time.

The consultant was  arrested  by the Anti Drug and Smuggling Unit (ADSU), in Bain des Dames area, a suburb of Port Louis, when he was allegedly caught trying to deliver 1.5kg of heroin. His alleged Mauritian contact, one  Sawoo Balgobin, was also arrested during the operation.

Mertz, who is based in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, and was travelling from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi , with a diplomatic passport, landed on Monday morning and left the airport without his luggage being checked. He then took a taxi to Port Louis where he booked a room in a hotel.

During the day, his local contacts asked him on the phone to travel to the coastal village of Flic en Flac, 25 km west of Port Louis to deliver the package. But the operation aborted due to the heavy presence of the police there. He came back to Port Louis where he was told to travel to Bain des Dames and throw the bag containing the package over a wall.

When his alleged contacts came to retrieve the parcel about one hour later, they could not find it as the American had mistakenly thrown the bag in a different courtyard. By that time, the inhabitants of that courtyard where the drug landed had already informed the ADSU.