122 kg of cannabis seized from truck tyres in Bamako; 2 held
Police in Bamako's 12th arrondissement arrested a truck driver and one of his suppliers on 6 October 2020 at Titibougou, on the road to Koulikoro, after cannabis hidden in the truck's tyres spilled onto the roadside. Officers seized 122 kg of cannabis herb, which the accounts say was bound for Dakar.
Police of Bamako’s 12th arrondissement arrested the driver of a semi-trailer
truck and one of his suppliers on 6 October 2020 in Titibougou, on the road to
Koulikoro, and seized122 kg of cannabis herb.[1]The divisionnaire, Hamadou
Ag Elmédi, led the officers who seized the drugs and the two men.[1]
A tyre had burst under pressure and scattered cannabis along the road.[1]The
search found 32 bricks of cannabis hidden in a second tyre and 18 kg loose on
the roadside after the first tyre exploded.[1]Under questioning the driver
named his supplier, who was also detained.[1]
The articles say the cannabis was bound for sale in Dakar, Senegal, and that
investigations continued into the rest of the network.[1]The divisionnaire
credited residents with the information behind the operation and said the
suspects were not on their first run.[1]Icimali reported that the two men
were held in custody at the station pending transfer to the courts.[2]The
same account said the suspects were on their seventh run, estimating the load by
comparison with the earlier shipments.[2]The articles note that Mali had no
equipment at the time to detect drugs concealed in vehicle tyres.[1]
Photos and video
Illustration accompanying the report on the 122 kg seizure in Titibougou; the outlet publishes it without a credit and it is not established to show this seizure.Photo details
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Arrested
2
Cannabis
122 kg
Agency type
Police, Court
Cannabis
Herbal cannabis (122 kg)
Activity
Sale
Setting
Vehicle
Case stage
Under investigation
Route
Mali → Senegal
Sources
Mali Actumaliactu.netFRMali : Trafic de drogue : 122 kg d’herbes de cannabis saisis par le 12e arrondissement de Bamako
Icimaliicimali.comFRSaisie d’une quantité considérable d’herbe de cannabis dissimulée dans les pneu d’un camion remorque
Open questions the AI reported
Only about 18 kg of the 122 kg total is itemised: the accounts give no separate weight for the 32 bricks found in the second tyre.
An earlier Sahel Tribune report on 7 October 2020, a day after the operation, gave no quantity and said neither the truck's origin nor the amount was known then; a Facebook video the same day mentions cannabis in a trailer tyre at Titibougou, which may be this case but could not be opened as text evidence.
No charge, trial or sentence is reported; the accounts only say the suspects were held at the station pending transfer to the courts.
Icimali says the suspects were on their seventh run, while the submitted account says only that they were not on their first trip.
No value for the 122 kg was published.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in Icimali: The cannabis had been hidden inside the truck's tyres, a method the articles describe as new for traffickers in Mali.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in Sahel Tribune: A resident's tip alerted the station to the truck parked on the roadside at Titibougou.
On the evening of 17 September 2026 Bamako’s mobile customs brigade stopped a goods truck at Sénou and seized 230 kg of cannabis hidden under plastic waste. The driver and his apprentice fled. Customs valued the load at 312 million CFA francs.
On 6 September 2026 Malian customs at the PK 11 post in Koutiala found 5.60 kg of cannabis and 4,000 tramadol tablets in a passenger's backpack on a bus from Yorosso to Bamako. The passenger, described as a pupil, was arrested.
On 21 August 2026 customs officers at the Kayes wharf intercepted a national of an English-speaking West African country carrying ten bricks of cannabis. The authorities gave no weight or destination for the cannabis, and the companion flour and pasta seizure is excluded from cannabis figures.
On 25 July 2025 Mali’s customs intelligence service intercepted two freight trucks from a neighbouring country and seized 104 balls of cannabis hidden in fitted compartments. No official weight was announced and no arrests were reported in the accounts.
