200 kg of cannabis seized as traffickers flee at Antsohihy
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.
Surprised in the middle of a transport operation, the traffickers panicked,
scattered and abandoned their load before disappearing into the dark.[1]Despite an immediate search of the surroundings, the fugitives escaped the
security forces, so no arrests were reported.[1]
The abandoned load was nearly 200 kilos of Indian hemp left behind by
traffickers in the middle of the night.[1]The cannabis was packed in twelve
polyethylene sacks abandoned on the spot.[2]The load was taken to the
Antsohihy territorial gendarmerie brigade, where it is kept sealed pending
incineration on the prosecutor’s orders.[2]
The interception happened around 10 p.m. on the night of Monday 26 to Tuesday 27
May, when a gendarmerie patrol found twelve sacks full of cannabis.[1]The
scene was at Ambodimanary, a remote sector of the Sofia region.[1]The
cannabis is grown in forest zones that are difficult to access and is then
carried manually to the main roads.[1]From there the goods head toward large
towns such as Ambanja, Ambilobe and Antsiranana, where resale prices are
considerably higher.[1]
Photos and video
The seized cannabis load taken to Antsohihy. Photo: L'Express de MadagascarPhoto details
The 200 kg figure is given as nearly 200 kilos, an approximate amount rather than a reported exact weighed total.
No suspects were named and no charges or court outcome were reported.
LINFO.re attributes its account to Lexpress.mg, so the two sources are not independent corroboration.
The exact publication day of the L'Express de Madagascar article within May 2025 could not be established from the opened page, so no date is given for that source.
A Midi Madagasikara page headlined as a 300 kg Ambodimanary-Antsohihy cannabis seizure could not be opened, so whether it is a differing account of this same seizure could not be checked.
The LINFO.re lead image carries only the article headline as caption and was not confirmed to show this seizure, so only the L'Express de Madagascar photograph is listed as media.
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 and soldiers seized 350.06 kg of cannabis in 25 sacks at Sahambano forest, Ihosy, after traffickers opened fire and fled. Local police seized another 52 kg. No arrests were reported.
