Senegalese customs said has intercepted three shipments of cocaine with a total estimated value of more than $50 million over the last five days.
In a statement on Tuesday, it disclosed it had intercepted a refrigerated truck near the border with Mali. It follows a spate of drug seizures in recent months from neighbouring countries, especially Gambia, Guinea and Mali which are known transit routes for drugs from South America to Europe.
“The search of the lorry revealed 264 packets of cocaine weighing a total of 306.24 kilograms, carefully concealed in a hiding place inside the ventilation compartment of the fridge,” the police said. The value of the seizure is believed to be around $40 million.
The previous day, customs officers confiscated about 95 packets of cocaine worth over $14 million in an operation in the south of the country.
On Saturday, cocaine worth $2.3 million was seized at the Blaise Diagne International Airport, near Dakar. The drugs were harboured in a suitcase amongst a consignment of unaccompanied luggage “coming from a country bordering Senegal and bound for a European Union country.”
Several seizures of cocaine have been announced by the Senegalese customs in recent months, including a 3-ton haul from a vessel seized in international waters off the coast of Senegal by the army.