SENEGAL: Police in Senegal have incinerated almost 2.5 tonnes of cocaine, after the West African country's biggest ever drugs seizure
- 00:00:06
- ITN Source
SENEGAL: Police in Senegal have incinerated almost 2.5 tonnes of cocaine, after the West African country's biggest ever drugs seizure
Police in Senegal have incinerated almost 2.5 tonnes of cocaine, after the West African country's biggest ever drugs seizure. Police in metallic fireproof suits and visors have thrown bricks of cocaine into a 1,000 degree celsius (1,830 Fahrenheit) incinerator at Senegal's biggest cement factory, just outside the capital Dakar. Police incinerated the West African country's biggest ever drugs seizure of almost 2.5 tonnes of cocaine on Thursday (August 2), and called for outside help to fight international trafficking networks. The former French colony on Africa's westernmost tip has become a major hub for cocaine smuggled out of Latin America, destined for users in Europe and the United States. The latest seizure alone was estimated to be worth more than 300 million U.S. dollars. Police discovered the 2,475 kg of cocaine in June when a deserted sailing yacht, apparently broken down, drifted into a popular coastal resort with 50 sacks on board. The arrests of suspects from countries including Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and France -- some in possession of guns and satellite navigation equipment -- led them to a further stash in a private home and helped uncover an international network. "We are working with the United States, we are working with France and we are working with our neighbours. No country is powerful enough on its own in the face of drug cartels. We have to pool our efforts, our strength and our information in order to succeed the way we did," Armed Forces Minister Becaye Diop said at a ceremony to burn the drugs. West Africa's location -- the nearest point on the continent to Latin American producers as well as North American and European consumers -- along with its poorly-policed borders and opaque economies have made it a hub for cocaine traffickers. Seizures have been made recently in Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Niger, Burkina Faso, Ghana and off the coast of Togo, some of them countries where the security forces were less well-equipped than the smugglers, said Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, U.N. Special Representative in West Africa.
ITN Source | August 3, 2007
