Senegal’s navy seizes record 3 tons of cocaine haul off coast

Senegal’s navy has intercepted over three tons of cocaine from a ship moored off the coast in what is one of the country’s biggest drug hauls, as traffickers often exploit West African nations as transit points to transport cocaine from South America to Europe.

“The patrol boat FOULADOU seized nearly 3 tons of pure cocaine aboard a ship intercepted 150 kilometers offshore,” Senegal’s navy announced on Tuesday (28 November). “The boat and its cargo were returned on 28 November 2023 to the Admiral Faye Gassama Naval Base and handed over to the competent authorities,” it stated.

Photos posted by the navy on social media platform X showed a rusty-hulled ship at the dock, dozens of suitcase-sized bundles wrapped in colorful plastic, and police officers conducting identification, logging of the seized products and examining a white substance.

Since 2016, the majority of consignments transiting West Africa on their way to Europe begin their journey in Brazil. In 2021, coca bush cultivation and overall cocaine production in South America reached record levels, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime’s World Drug Report.

The global number of cocaine users, estimated at 22 million in 2021, continues to increase steadily. In 2020, 30% of the world’s cocaine users were in North America, but UNODC warns of strong potential for a large expansion of cocaine use in Africa and Asia. For the past three to four years, at least 57 tons of cocaine were seized in or en route to West Africa, 4.7 tons of which were in Senegal. In January this year, Senegal seized more than 800 kilos of cocaine off the coast of Dakar.