Africa

Senegalese Navy Seizes 690 Kilograms of Cocaine

FILE - Senegalese Navy officers stand on the OPV 58S 'Walo' vessel in the quay of the naval base in Dakar on August 3, 2023.

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DAKAR — The Senegalese navy has seized 690 kilogram of cocaine, which was being transported to Europe in a high-speed boat and arrested five Spanish nationals on board, the country’s army announced in a statement received by AFP on Sunday.

A patrol boat intercepted the boat carrying the drugs on Friday, some 220 kilometers off the Senegalese coast.

According to the statement, the patrol boat had to use verbal warnings and warning shots to stop the boat, which had released its cargo before the intervention. The 690 kilograms of cocaine has been recovered, the statement added.

On November 28 and December 16, the Senegalese army announced seizures at sea of almost three tons of cocaine on each operation.

More than 800 kilograms of cocaine were also seized in January from a vessel off Dakar by the Senegalese navy.

Long considered as a mere transit zone for drugs produced in Latin America on their way to Europe, West and Central Africa has also become a region of heavy consumption, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).