Senegal customs officials announced Tuesday the interception of three major cocaine shipments worth over $50 million within the past five days.
Authorities have recently increased cocaine seizures from neighbouring countries, such as Guinea, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Mali, known transit zones for Latin American drugs headed to Europe.
In a Tuesday statement reported by AFP, police reported the interception of a refrigerated truck near the Mali border, discovering 264 packets of cocaine, totalling 306.24 kilograms, concealed in the fridge’s ventilation compartment. This haul is valued at $40 million.
On Monday, customs officers in southern Senegal intercepted a vehicle from a neighbouring country driven by an individual from a Sahel nation, uncovering 95 packets of cocaine worth $14.2 million.
Additionally, on Saturday, customs officials at Blaise Diagne International Airport near Dakar found 18 kilograms of cocaine valued at $2.3 million in a suitcase from a neighbouring country destined for the EU.
In recent months, Senegalese customs have announced several significant cocaine seizures, including a 1-ton haul in April near the Mali border and another major seizure in November, where nearly 3 tons were confiscated from a vessel in international waters off Senegal’s coast.
