Niger: 268 kg of cocaine intercepted in a truck coming from Accra.

The Central Office for the Suppression of Illicit Drug Trafficking (OCRTIS) presented a seizure of 268.045 kg of cocaine to the press on Monday, May 25, which was made on May 19 in Zinder, the second largest city in Niger, located about 900 kilometers east of Niamey. The cargo, packed in 233 bricks and hidden in compartments under a truck trailer coming from Accra, constitutes a national record according to OCRTIS.

During the operation, eight individuals of Nigerien nationality were arrested. Police commissioner Rachida Mayaki Boubacar, head of the regional branch, indicated that the interception resulted from operational intelligence reporting the movement of a suspicious heavy vehicle. A surveillance system was deployed at the city entrance, allowing the vehicle to be directed to secure premises for a thorough search. Searches conducted in garages and homes linked to the suspects also led to the discovery of several foreign license plates.

The street value of the seizure is estimated by the Nigerien police at 16.082 billion CFA francs, approximately 24.5 million euros. The eight presumed suspects have been handed over to the competent authorities for judicial proceedings. The case has been transferred to the Specialized Judicial Pole for the fight against terrorism and organized transnational crime.

A Sahelo-Saharan Route Through Five Countries

According to the information provided by Commissioner Mayaki Boubacar, the cargo is said to have left Accra, passed through Lomé (Togo), Kandi (Benin), and Sokoto (Nigeria), before entering Niger at the Konni border post, and then moving towards Maradi and Zinder. The presumed final destination was Libya, via the Sahelo-Saharan corridors. The Niger-Libya corridor has been one of the major axes of drug, arms, and human trafficking in Sub-Saharan Africa for about fifteen years.

Investigators have established a link between this convoy and a previous seizure: according to OCRTIS, the presumed head of the network is the same individual involved in the introduction of 51.7 kg of cocaine intercepted in Gaya, in southwestern Niger, on September 29, 2025. This man, identified by Commissioner Mayaki Boubacar as Hamadou Samey Issa, alias “the Malian,” already has an international arrest warrant against him. Searches are ongoing in Niger, Ghana, Mali, and Togo.

The January 2022 seizure was previously the national record with 214.635 kg of cocaine intercepted in the desert north of Niger, in a vehicle belonging to a mayor of Fachi heading towards Dirkou, a locality near the Libyan border. The seizure on May 19, 2026, exceeds this previous record by nearly 54 kg.

Niger has experienced an increase in drug seizures since the beginning of 2026. In February, the Illéla police (Tahoua region) intercepted 800,000 ecstasy tablets hidden in a vehicle transported from Marseille via the port of Cotonou — a national first for this type of substance, estimated at 8 billion CFA francs. Between April 30 and May 8, the Agadez branch dismantled three cannabis trafficking networks with a total of more than 109 kg seized.

Judicial Proceedings and Call for Cooperation

The Public Prosecutor near the High Court of Niamey, Ousmane Beido, praised the work of OCRTIS at the press conference and announced the continuation of investigations to identify the supporters and accomplices of the network. OCRTIS has urged the public to provide any information to the Defense and Security Forces via the toll-free numbers 8383 and 17.

The presumption of innocence applies to all individuals involved in this case. The eight arrested have not been specifically identified in official communications.