Cannabis network broken up in Djibouti City; 42 cups seized
Djibouti's National Police narcotics brigade broke up a suspected cannabis-trafficking network in Plateau du Serpent and Balbala, seizing 42 cups of cannabis. The suspects were brought before the Djibouti prosecutor and remanded in custody.
🇩🇯 Plateau du Serpent and Balbala, Djibouti City · Djibouti
·
Agencies
Brigade des stupéfiants de la Police nationale, Parquet de Djibouti
Djibouti’s National Police narcotics brigade dismantled a suspected
cannabis-trafficking network operating in the capital’s Plateau du Serpent and
Balbala commune.[1]Investigators said the traffickers had gradually abandoned
traditional sales points and were using vehicles to transport and directly sell
the drugs.[1]Officers deployed a rapid-interception operation and caught a
first suspect red-handed inside a vehicle with 11 cups of cannabis hidden in a
plastic bag, according to police.[1]
Follow-up investigations identified several other people suspected of
involvement in the network.[1]Searches at their homes found and seized 31
additional cups of cannabis.[1]
In total, officers took 42 cups of cannabis off the streets, which police
estimated were worth more than 800,000 Djiboutian francs.[1]The suspects were
brought before the Djibouti prosecutor’s office and remanded in custody.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Value (official estimate)
DJF 800,000
Agencies
Brigade des stupéfiants de la Police nationale; Parquet de Djibouti
Agency type
Police, Anti-narcotics agency, Prosecutor
Case stage
Charged
Region
Djibouti City
Date
Publication date
Sources
ADI Newsadi.djFRUn réseau de trafic de cannabis démantelé après une opération de police à Balbala et au Plateau du Serpent
Open questions the AI reported
The article gives no separate date for the operation; 21 July 2026 is its publication and dateline date and is used as the incident date.
No exact number of arrested or detained suspects was published, beyond one first suspect plus several others, so no arrested or charged figure is recorded.
The cannabis quantity is stated only as 11 plus 31 cups totalling 42 cups, a local unit that cannot be converted to kilograms, so no kg_seized is recorded.
The value is reported as more than 800,000 Djiboutian francs; 800,000 is recorded as the stated lower bound of the police estimate.
No names, charges or later court outcome were reported.
No second independent account of this operation was found; the later August Balbala gendarmerie seizure is a separate event.
Security forces arrested three suspects in Al-Maragha district of Sohag Governorate, Egypt, during a campaign against weapons and drug possession. The three were found with six firearms and two pieces of hashish, and the Public Prosecution took over the investigation.
Customs officers at Djibouti's Galafi border post stopped a Djibouti-registered vehicle arriving from Ethiopia on 22 October 2026 and found 4.7 kg of cannabis hidden in four pillows. The customs agency reported no arrests and gave no street value.
The Einguella gendarmerie brigade broke up what it called a cannabis distribution network in the Balbala district of Djibouti City, finding 88 packages weighing 12 kg at a storage site, with an estimated street value of 1.76 million Djiboutian francs. Several people were arrested, held in police custody before presentation to the justice authorities.
Ali Sabieh customs officers stopped a truck-trailer at the Galilée frontier around 02:00 on 17 November 2025 and found 29.8 kg of cannabis hidden in spare wheels, valued at 774 million Djiboutian francs. The driver was arrested and handed to northern gendarmerie for investigation.
