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Senegal Seizes 750 Kilos of Cocaine in Shipments Set for Europe

Senegal Seizes 750 Kilos of Cocaine in Shipments Set for Europe

(Bloomberg) -- Senegal seized 750 kilos (1,650 pounds) of cocaine Sunday on a ship traveling from Brazil, hidden inside 15 cars with final destinations that included Europe, in the latest large drug seizure off the West African coast this year.

The cocaine was packed in travel bags in the cars on the ship, which had arrived at the port in the capital Dakar on Saturday, news site Dakaractu reported, citing port authorities. The cars were destined for Germany and Ghana, the website said.

Record cocaine busts in Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau earlier this year indicate West Africa is making a comeback as a transit point for cocaine from South America to Europe. Authorities in the two former Portuguese colonies have intercepted as much as 10.4 tons of the narcotic this year, more than the total amount seized on the continent between 2013 and 2016, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

Rising Output

In January, Cape Verde seized 9.5 tons of cocaine in one of the region’s largest ever hauls. A month later, Guinea-Bissau recorded its biggest bust of cocaine yet when it intercepted almost 800 kilos hidden in a fish truck bound for Mali. Senegalese customs officials earlier this week seized 238 kilos of cocaine hidden in cars on a ship heading from Brazil to Angola.
A sharp increase in global cocaine output led by Colombia in recent years could help explain West Africa’s resurgence as a route, with traffickers looking to diversify destinations, Mark Shaw, director of Geneva-based Global Initiative Against Transnational Crime, told Bloomberg in March.

Ivorian authorities earlier this month arrested several members of a trafficking network trying to move almost 2 tons of cocaine from Brazil via Ivory Coast to Europe. Senegalese authorities on Sunday said they had made several arrests including a number of foreigners without specifying their nationalities.

--With assistance from Alonso Soto.

To contact the reporter on this story: Katarina Hoije in Abidjan at khoije@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: John McCorry at jmccorry@bloomberg.net, Kevin Miller, Ian Fisher

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