Senegal Seizes Record 2 Tons of Cocaine Off Atlantic Coast

Senegal Seizes Record 2 Tons of Cocaine Off Atlantic Coast
Bales of illicit cocaine and marijuana aboard U.S. Coast Guard Cutter James. Screenshot/U.S. Coast Guard
Reuters
Updated:

DAKAR—Senegal seized more than two tons of pure cocaine from a ship off its Atlantic coast, the navy said on Tuesday, in the West African country’s largest ever cocaine bust.

The 2,026 kg of cocaine was found on a ship 226 miles off the coast by naval forces backed by air support from the French air force, the navy said in a statement.

The ship had five crew members aboard, it added.

Drug smugglers typically use West Africa as a transshipment point for cocaine en route from South America to Europe.

In January, authorities in neighboring Gambia seized nearly three tons of cocaine from a shipment of industrial salt originating in Ecuador.

Morocco police on Monday seized one ton and 335 kilograms of cocaine concealed in a container ship in Tangier Med Port.

By Diadie Ba