Senegal's navy announced on Tuesday that the military has intercepted over three tonnes of cocaine from a ship anchored off the coast, marking one of the country's biggest drug hauls. 

• The cocaine was seized from a ship intercepted 150km off the Senegalese capital.
• The confiscated cargo contained 2.975 tonnes of pure cocaine.
• Traffickers frequently exploit West African nations as transit points to transport cocaine from South America to Europe.

Photos posted by the navy on social media platform X showed a rusty-hulled ship called the "City of Abidjan" at the dock, dozens of suitcase-sized bundles wrapped in colourful plastic, and police officers examining a white substance apparently extracted from the haul.

The cocaine was seized from a ship intercepted 150km off the Senegalese capital, Dakar, according to the agency's post. The confiscated vessel contained 2.975 tonnes of pure cocaine, a senior military official said on the condition of anonymity.

What the agency said:

"The patrol boat FOULADOU seized nearly 3 tonnes of pure cocaine aboard a ship intercepted 150 kilometers offshore. The boat and its cargo were returned on November 28, 2023 to the Admiral Faye Gassama Naval Base and handed over to the competent authorities," it stated.

Reuters reported that traffickers frequently exploit West African nations as transit points to transport cocaine from South America to Europe. In 2021, coca bush cultivation and overall cocaine production reached record levels, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime's World Drug Report. The global number of cocaine users, estimated at 22 million in 2021, continues to rise steadily.

In 2020, North America represented about 30% of the world's cocaine users, but UNODC warns of strong potential for a large expansion of cocaine use in Africa and Asia.​

According to French news agency AFP, between 2019 and 2022, at least 57 tonnes of cocaine were intercepted in, or en route to, West Africa, chiefly in Cape Verde (16.6 tonnes), Senegal (4.7 tonnes) and Benin (3.9 tonnes).

In January, the Senegalese navy seized over 800kg of cocaine from a ship off Dakar. Additionally, Senegalese Customs reported the seizure of 300 kg of cocaine, with an estimated value of almost €37 million, from a refrigerated truck arriving from neighbouring Mali in October 2022.

Source of the article: Business Insider Africa