About 10% of the population of the archipelago state of the Seychelles – off the southeastern coast of Africa – is addicted to heroin, in what the government now considers an epidemic.

Even being in prison does not protect those dependent on that drug.

Reporters from the BBC Africa Eye investigative unit were given access to the country’s main prison, where they witnessed the rawest side of a problem that threatens to overwhelm the country.

At the top of a ridge surrounded by the beautiful scenery of the Indian Ocean is the Montagne Posée Prison, the main prison in the Seychelles.

The Seychelles are a land of contrastsalthough it’s hard to reconcile these amazing views with what’s inside the prison.

At the entrance to the prison, after passing countless locked doors and miles of coiled barbed wire, there is a four-foot-tall mural of Nelson Mandela painted on the wall of an office building.

Next to the smiling face of the late South African president – who was also imprisoned, of course – is a quote that reads: “It is said that no one knows a nation until they have been in prisons.”

And in many ways it is true that this prison is a reflection of what is happening in the Seychelles beyond its publicized reputation as a luxury holiday destination.

We’re here to meet one of the prisoners, Jude Jean, but the BBC team are first taken to what the prisoners say is the cell to show visitors. It’s clean, but it’s tight.

There are eight beds, four on each side, one on top of the other, with no room to sit up. In the same room there is a toilet and a shower, so there is no privacy at all.

Nearby are the dirty and dilapidated kitchens. Rotten fish entrails clog the drain. The stench is pungent and the flies feast on it.

Then comes the main cell block. The darkness is overwhelming. It’s the early hours of the afternoon. However, there is no sunlight to be seen. Small lamps in an adjoining hallway provide dim lighting. Prisoners use cardboard boxes to create privacy behind the bars of their cells with the front exposed. Some are so small they look more like cages and there are dirty mattresses on the floor.

Prison conditions are precarious and there is no privacy.

The heroin problem also lurks in the dark with the flow of powerful narcotics between these cells.

Prison offers no protection from what is happening outside.

The Seychelles is currently facing an epidemic.

It is estimated that about 10% of the population is addicted to heroin. So much so that foreign labor has to be imported to do the work that drug addicts cannot do.

In prison, they alternate Tanzanian guards in an attempt to reduce corruption and the heroin trafficking to the cells, but it doesn’t work.

Corruption, drugs and prison

Even President Wavel Ramkalawan acknowledges that the prison is not serving its purpose.

“If you have a problem like that, this is a breeding ground for corruption by the guards. Once there is corruption, drugs keep entering the prison,” he told the BBC from his official residence in the capital Victoria, adding that he plans to build a new prison.

He accepts that “the drug situation is very bad”.

“At the moment, the Seychelles is, per capita, the number one in the world when it comes to heroin use. And that is not a statistic that I personally enjoy.”

It’s visiting day at the prison and Jude, who is being held for theft, is waiting for his mother.

The family room is outside, it’s a concrete patio, with plastic furniture, surrounded by a wire fence.

Jude is sympathetic, warm and friendly, confident but humble. He is also addicted to drugs.

“I’m embarrassed to say it, but you know, I’m addicted,” he tells us, “and it’s not easy.”

When she sinks back into her chair today, her eyelids seem too heavy. Despite being in jail, he managed to get his dose of heroin that morning, as well as a few joints.

Jude’s mother, Ravinia, has not abandoned her son, even though his drug addiction has affected her.

Jude has been in and out of prison for over a decade, mostly for theft to support his addiction.

Her mother Ravinia has dealt with that problem as well as another terrible tragedy.

She is a jovial woman; his smile lights up the room and he laughs loudly.

For many years she worked running a fast food business and trying to support and provide a good life for her four children.

But the heroin took it all.

In 2011, Ravinia’s oldest son, Tony, was found hanged. The circumstances of his death remain a mystery, but Tony was closely associated with the heroine and she has no doubt that the two are related. He doesn’t believe he committed suicide.

When he talks, he seems miles away. His pain and confusion mark his face.

“Have Strength, Mama”

To this day it amazes her how two of her children went down that road.

“Even when they tell me not to blame myself, I still have to blame myself,” she says. And many more mothers across the country feel the same way.

When Ravinia sees Jude, her mood and smile light up.

“It’s good to see you, boy,” she tells him, hugging him tightly.

“I’m glad to see you too, mom,” he replies enthusiastically.

As they sit down she tells us, “You know, we talk, even though I know sometimes you lie to me, we talk, we’re friends!”

But tensions soon arise. While overwhelmed with tears, Jude wipes his away and tells her, “Have strength, Mom, have strength.”

And it has.

She is Jude’s rock and you can see how much she means to him, even though he has tested her over the years.

“We have nothing today because everything is gone. He even took my checkbook and started [escribir] controls,” he explains.

“He took everything… I remember one time when we didn’t even have sheets. Everything he saw he took with him to sell in exchange for drugs.”

The first time Jude went to jail, Ravinia was relieved, but that reprieve didn’t last long. He says it’s like being sent to “a school for criminals.”

promise of change

While in prison, Ravinia was forced to fund her son’s vice because “he used drugs on credit”.

“I had to pay because they sent people to collect the money,” she says, and they threatened her. It was Jude who told them to go to his parents, that they would pay for him.

“They threaten you. They say they will kill him.”

Jude knows how lucky she is to have such a mother.

“Thank you mom for always being by my side. I know that with you here, I’ll be a better person one day. I want to be a better person.”

“Do it before it’s too late,” Ravinia replies in tears.

Jude promises him that he will change. She is not convinced, but does not lose faith.

Prison isn’t the ideal place to recover, but it’s not impossible. They have a methadone program, which can treat heroin addiction, and they offer a limited number of therapy sessions, but Jude has to want it.

Methadone is also available to users outside of prison. It’s free for anyone who’s signed up. That is the size of the epidemic.

Every morning in Victoria, a special white van with a distribution window on the side makes several stops around the city, where long queues form with people from all walks of life waiting to get their medicines.

Surprisingly, in a country gripped by heroin, methadone is the only consistent support available to addicts.

However, for many Seychelles, that daily dose is nothing more than a free morning supply that is incredibly dangerous. Simultaneous use of methadone and heroin can lead to a fatal overdose.

Taking methadone without a detox plan and counseling is rarely a long-term recovery solution. Despite this, due to political decisions, all residential rehabilitation centers on all islands of the republic have been closed.

The president, who has been in power for two years, blames his predecessors for the lack of critical hospital care.

He says politics got in the way of a strategy to deal with the problem in the previous administration.

“But we got a fund from the United Arab Emirates to build a real rehabilitation center. So we are moving in that direction,” said Ramkalawan.

home medicine industry

Most heroin arrives in the Seychelles from Afghanistan and Iran by boat, across the broad and porous maritime borders. With almost a million square kilometers of territorial sea, smugglers have easy access.

Once ashore, it is mainly distributed in small makeshift shops in the back of houses in the country’s many slums.

It is basically a cottage industry involving entire communities.

If you wander just five minutes off a main street – past the luxury hotels and expensive restaurants – they are in plain sight. The drug is everywhere and the fear is that the worst is yet to come.

While heroin continues to dominate the market, at least now because it is relatively cheap, other drugs are present.

Crack or rock cocaine and methamphetamine are starting to be used and none of these drugs can be treated with methadone.

Jude enrolls in a methadone program hoping it will help him kick his heroin addiction.

In jail, a few days after his mother’s visit, Jude decides to keep his promise and try another detox plan.

He takes a big step and tries to enroll in the prison’s methadone program, but not everyone qualifies.

Jude arrives visibly high at the prison’s medical center. When the nurse tests his urine for heroin, it’s no surprise that he tests positive.

They tell him that he must stop taking the drug completely in order to be accepted into the methadone program. Agree to do it.

The next day, he joins his fellow inmates and receives his first dose.

Jude has also enrolled in a counseling program to give herself the best chance of recovery.

Her mother Ravinia is under no illusions, she has been disappointed more than once. But he prays hard, hoping that this time he will succeed.