Edan, mayor caught in the act of transporting 200 kg of cocaine using official car

jpnn.com, NIAMEY – Police in northern Niger confiscated more than 200 kilograms (kg) of cocaine worth about US$8.7 million (approximately Rp. 124.45 billion) transported in a local mayor’s official truck.

This was conveyed by two Niger police officers on Monday (3/1).

The mayor and the driver, who was in the vehicle at the time, were arrested with 199 blocks of cocaine at a checkpoint on the road north of the commercial center in the city of Agadez on Sunday, the two policemen said.

A statement from the Niger Headquarters for the Eradication of Illicit Drug Trafficking (OCRTIS) confirmed that more than 200 kg of cocaine had been confiscated in Agadez, but gave no details.

West Africa has recorded a series of record arrests in recent years.

This region of Africa is the most frequent transit route for drug traffickers en route from South America to Europe.

Senegal confiscated more than two tonnes cocaine from a ship off the Atlantic coast in October 2021, and Gambian authorities seized nearly three tonnes of cocaine in January 2021 in a shipment originating from Ecuador.

After the seizure of 17 tonnes of cannabis resin worth about $37 million in Niger in May 2021, Interpol’s drug unit coordinator Jan Drapal told Reuters that drug lords were making larger shipments in response to growing demand in Europe. (ant/dil/jpnn)

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It is alleged that this country has become a haven for the circulation of cocaine-type drugs, even officials like the mayor of the city are involved

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