Authorities in Guinea-Bissau have made a significant drug bust, seizing 2.6 tons of cocaine from a plane that arrived from Venezuela at the Osvaldo Vieira International Airport in the capital, Bissau. The judicial police announced the operation on Monday, following a raid conducted on Saturday afternoon.
According to the police statement, agents confiscated 78 bales of cocaine that were smuggled into the country on a Gulfstream IV aircraft. The operation led to the arrest of the five-member crew, which included two Mexican nationals and citizens from Colombia, Ecuador, and Brazil. The pilot was among those detained.
This large-scale seizure underscores the growing concern about West Africa’s role as a key transit hub for international drug trafficking. The United Nations, in a report released earlier this year, highlighted the region’s increasing importance for drugs originating from Latin America and Southwest Asia en route to European markets.
Guinea-Bissau has gained notoriety as a preferred route for international drug cartels. The country’s vulnerability to drug trafficking was further emphasized earlier this year when Malam Bacai Sanha, son of the country’s former president, was sentenced to over six years in prison by a U.S. court for leading an international heroin trafficking ring.
The successful operation was carried out in close cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre–Narcotics, a European organization, demonstrating international collaboration in combating drug trafficking.
This seizure follows a record-breaking cocaine interception in neighboring Senegal earlier this year, where authorities confiscated 1,137 kilograms (2,506 pounds) of cocaine near an artisanal mine in the east of the country. Valued at $146 million, it was the largest land-based cocaine seizure in Senegal’s history.
These incidents highlight the ongoing challenges faced by West African nations in combating international drug trafficking and the critical need for continued regional and global cooperation in addressing this issue.
