740 cannabis slabs seized by customs on Bobo-Ouaga road
Burkina Faso customs seized 740 slabs of cannabis hidden in a seven-tonne vehicle on the Bobo-Dioulasso–Ouagadougou road on 29 February 2024. The brigade valued the cannabis at 52.5 million CFA francs and presented the operation as part of counter-terrorism and public-safety enforcement.
On 29 February 2024, officers of the Bobo-Dioulasso Mobile Customs Brigade
seized 740 slabs of chanvre indien, the French term for cannabis, during a road
check.[1]The cannabis was hidden in specially prepared hiding places inside a
seven-tonne vehicle stopped on the Bobo-Ouaga axis.[1]Burkina Faso customs
communication likewise described 740 slabs concealed in a well-prepared hiding
place in a seven-tonne vehicle on the Bobo-Dioulasso–Ouaga axis.[2]
Customs valued the seized cannabis at 52,500,000 CFA francs.[3]The drugs were
concealed inside the walls of the vehicles and were found through the vigilance
and professionalism of customs investigators acting on intelligence.[3]
The Director General of Customs congratulated the Western region customs
hierarchy and the Bobo-Dioulasso Mobile Brigade staff for the operations.[3]Director General Adama Ilboudo called for closer cooperation between the public
and customs officers to strengthen the fight against terrorism and ensure public
safety.[3]On the same axis on 26 February 2024 the same brigade had
separately seized 590 kg of amphetamine valued at 6,320,000 CFA francs, which is
not counted in the cannabis figures.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Value (official estimate)
XOF 52,500,000
Agency type
Customs
Cannabis
Herbal cannabis
Setting
Street or public place
Case stage
Under investigation
Sources
Burkina 24burkina24.comFRLutte contre le trafic illicite : La Brigade Mobile des Douanes de Bobo-Dioulasso opère une importante saisie de drogue et d’amphétamines d’une contrevaleur de près de 58 820 000 francs CFA
Sentinelle BFsentinellebf.comFRLutte contre la drogue : 740 plaquettes de chanvre indien saisie sur l’axe Bobo-Ouaga
Bénin Web TVbeninwebtv.bjFRBurkina Faso : saisie de plaquettes de chanvre indien et d’autres produits illicites
Open questions the AI reported
No weight was published for the 740 slabs, so no kilogram figure is recorded.
No arrests, detentions, charges or court outcome were reported.
The same brigade's 590 kg amphetamine seizure on 26 February 2024 on the same axis is a separate non-cannabis seizure and is excluded from the cannabis value.
The text gives a weight ("590 kg") but the figures have no kg_seized; check whether it belongs there.
The Anti-Drug Unit of the Judicial Police announced on 29 September 2026 that it had dismantled a cannabis trafficking and sales network in Ouagadougou, seizing nearly 86 kg of cannabis plus adulterated drinks, contraband cigarettes and psychotropics supplied from a neighbouring country and gold-mining sites.
Burkina Faso's regional judicial police in Koulsé seized 575.15 kg of cannabis in Kaya and Ouagadougou and arrested one network member, police said on 25 September 2025. The same day the central police station in Pô arrested two travellers carrying 20.5 kg of cannabis on National Road 5.
Police in Gaoua, southwestern Burkina Faso, seized 90 kg of cannabis together with more than 5,000 litres of contraband alcohol in an operation backed by the GCRS. Authorities valued the combined haul at 25 million CFA francs and said a network based in Malba was supplying artisanal gold-mining sites around Gaoua, Kampti and Galgouli.
Burkina Faso's national police seized 698 slabs of chanvre indien, about 760 kg, in the Hauts-Bassins region and arrested one suspected lone trafficker. Police said he smuggled the cannabis in from abroad on tracks around checkpoints and traded the proceeds for motorcycles.
