Over 2 Tonnes Of Cocaine Worth $67.7 Million Seized In Ivory Coast

Police in Ivory Coast have seized a record haul of more than 2 tonnes of pure cocaine and with a street value of around 41 billion CFA francs ($67.7 million), the interior ministry said on Saturday. The cocaine was seized from the traffickers this month in a police operation that took place in the commercial capital Abidjan and the port city

of San Pedro, a ministry statement said. The statement gave few details but said nine people, including Ivorians and also foreign nationals, had been arrested and then investigations were under way. The previous record haul was just over a year ago when about a tonne of cocaine was seized in one of Abidjan’s northern districts. Major

drug hauls in the Ivory Coast are rare, but large cocaine seizures have become increasingly common along the West African Atlantic Coast. The region is often used as a transit route for illegal drugs on their way from South America to Europe. About 40 tonnes pass through the region annually, according to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.