Niger police seize more than 200kg of cocaine from mayor’s truck
More than 200kg worth of cocaine costing around $8.7 million was seized by the police in northern Niger after being caught in the process of being transported in the local mayor’s truck.
The truck was found driving north out of the trading hub of Agadez where the mayor alongside with his driver got arrested.
Niger’s Central Office for the Repression of Illicit Drug Trafficking (OCRTIS) said on Wednesday that police had been aware of a large quantity of cocaine being transported through the country towards Libya, and had been following the trail.
The vehicle had left Fachi and was heading towards Libya for the town of Dirkou when it was stopped. The region is used as a route for multiple types of trafficking – such as moving drugs between South America and Europe and migrant smuggling.