Customs authorities in Senegal have disclosed that they have no fewer than seized 300 kilograms (661 pounds) of cocaine worth around $36 million aboard a truck near the Malian border, in the biggest land seizure of the drug in the country’s history.
Africa Today News, New York reports that the drugs were discovered that at Kidira in a refrigerated lorry that was heading to the Senegalese capital Dakar, the customs authorities said.
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The two drivers have been arrested and a quantity of cash in dollars and West African currencies was seized, they said in a statement on Sunday.
Africa Today News, New York reports that West Africa has in recent years been a transit zone for drugs produced in Latin America, but UN investigators say it is also a growing market for narcotics.
Africa Today News, New York reports that Liberian authorities had last week confirmed that they had seized some $100 million worth of cocaine, with help from the United States’ international narcotics agency.
Liberian Justice Minister Musa Dean informed reporters the national Drug Enforcement Agency, with help from the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, had made the seizure Saturday in Topoe village, a western suburb of the capital Monrovia.
The operation led ‘to the seizure of $100 million worth of pure cocaine’, he said.
He also added that a Guinea-Bissau national and a Lebanese suspect were arrested.
The drug agency could not confirm reports shared on social media that the drug had been stored in frozen fish containers. It said the investigation was ongoing.
The drug enforcement agency chief Marcus Zehyoue said: ‘a full-scale investigation’ was underway along with a search for accomplices who escaped capture.
The US embassy in Liberia congratulated the Liberian authorities on the drug haul, saying in a statement that it was the result of swift joint action.