Niger Police Seize Cocaine From Local Mayor

Approximately 214kg of cocaine were seized by the Niger authorities over the weekend, albeit from surprising culprits.

Per reports, the culprits in question were the mayor of Fachi – a town located more than 1 600 kilometres from the capital Niamey – and his driver, who were transporting the drugs to Libya in a municipal car.

The drugs had been smuggled in from Mali; once it reached Libya, it would then be sold on the European market.

On 2 January, the car was en-route to Dirkou near the Libyan border when it was intercepted by the police. One hundred and ninety-nine bricks of cocaine were seized, while the mayor – who has not been named – and his driver were arrested and brought to Niamey for questioning.

“It’s the first time that our country has seized such a big quantity of cocaine,” said Nana Aichatou Ousmane Bako, a spokesperson for Niger’s Central Office for the Repression of Illicit Drug Trafficking.

The drugs had been smuggled in from Mali; once it reached Libya, says Bako, it would then be sold on the European market, where it had an estimated street value of $19 million.

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