SENEGALESE customs said in a statement Thursday that they had intercepted more than 360 kilogrammes of cocaine worth $48.3 million in the southeast of the country.
The authorities have made an increasing number of cocaine seizures in recent months from neighbouring countries — notably Guinea, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and Mali — which are reputed to be transit zones for drugs produced in Latin America on their way to Europe.
In a statement, customs police said they seized 365.4 kilogrammes of cocaine in the town of Koupentoum from a lorry travelling from an unspecified “neighbouring” country.
The drugs, worth 29.2 billion CFA francs ($48.3 million), were hidden under the bed of the lorry.
This cocaine seizure is the third of its kind since January, customs said.
The town of Koupentoum is located on a road leading to Mali and Gambia.
Several seizures of cocaine have been announced by customs in recent months, including a one-tonne haul in mid-April in the east of the country, near the border with Mali, and several others earlier this month.
In November 2023, the army announced the seizure of nearly three tonnes of cocaine from a vessel seized in international waters off the coast of Senegal.
