2.6 tonnes of cannabis seized from a lorry in Antsirabe; two held
Police in Antsirabe stopped a lorry in the night of 5 May 2013 and seized nearly 2.6 tonnes of cannabis hidden among sacks of charcoal and grain. Two people in the lorry were arrested and another fled, and the police said the load was bound for the capital's market.
Police in Antsirabe stopped a lorry carrying cannabis in the night of Sunday 5
May 2013 and seized nearly 2.6 tonnes of the drug.[1]
The 172 sacks of cannabis were hidden among 10 sacks of charcoal and 13 sacks of
dried grain.[1]LINFO.re reported that the consignment was spread over about a
hundred sacks and quoted the FIP commander, Pascal Randriamahasoa, on the sacks
of charcoal and grain.[2]The cannabis had been dried and packed at 15
kilograms a sack, according to the FIP commander.[2]The police said the load
was meant to supply the market of the capital, Antananarivo.[1]
Two people in the lorry were arrested when police intervened, and a third fled.[1]LINFO.re reported that three people, including the lorry driver, were
detained, and that a fourth suspect escaped on foot.[2]
Photos and video
Lead image published with the Zinfos974 account of the Antsirabe seizure, a general picture carried without a caption describing the scene; no credit was published.Photo details
Zinfos974 says two people were arrested and a third fled, while LINFO.re says three people including the lorry driver were detained and a fourth escaped; the figures use the two arrests in the submitted account.
LINFO.re describes the load as spread over about a hundred sacks, while also quoting 172 sacks of cannabis; the reports do not reconcile the two counts.
The weight is given as nearly 2.6 tonnes in both accounts, an official estimate rather than a measured figure, and no value was published.
The interception is placed just after a gendarmerie barrier at Sahanivotry Atsimo, but the accounts do not say whether that spot is inside Antsirabe or on the road towards it.
No charge, custody decision or court outcome was reported, and the accounts give no dates for a trial or for the announced destruction of the cannabis.
Both accounts credit the Malagasy daily L'Express de Madagascar, so they are not fully independent reporting; the original article could not be opened.
The submissions' lead image carries no caption, alt text or credit identifying the lorry or the load, so it is listed as media with that limitation stated.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in LINFO.re: Antsirabe's police intervention force, the FIP, carried out the interception at a road check just after a gendarmerie barrier at Sahanivotry Atsimo, according to the Malagasy daily L'Express de Madagascar.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in LINFO.re: The lorry was coming from Ambatofinandrahana, in the province of Fianarantsoa.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in LINFO.re: The gendarmerie and the central police station were to continue the investigation and destroy all the seized cannabis.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in LINFO.re: On the island, consuming, holding, selling, transporting or processing cannabis is punishable by fines or prison terms.
Left out agencies, as its quotation was not found in LINFO.re.
Left out agency types, as its quotation was not found in LINFO.re.
Madagascar's national gendarmerie seized 371 kg of cannabis in Antsirabe and arrested three men, it announced on 17 February 2026. The gendarmerie said reports from residents led officers to bags holding the drug.
The Sofia gendarmerie reported 1,440 kg of cannabis in 114 sacks seized around Antsohihy over six months, with 10 arrests. The stock was burned on 8 December, and another 400 kg was seized the same afternoon.
Madagascar's gendarmerie seized an estimated 250 kg of cannabis at Antakalanabe during a night patrol; the suspected traffickers fled and no arrest was reported. The load was taken to the local gendarmerie post for destruction under a judicial decision, while officials said the trafficking routes remained under surveillance.
Gendarmes on night patrol at Ambodimanary, near Antsohihy, seized twelve sacks holding nearly 200 kg of cannabis after the carriers fled into the dark. No arrests were made, and the sealed load was stored at the Antsohihy brigade pending court-ordered incineration.
