Operation Black Mamba, led by Gabon’s National Agency of National Parks and several security units, detained 130 people described as in irregular immigration status and seized 2,778 kg of cannabis. The ANPN said more than 2.6 tonnes were burned in Libreville on 29 April 2025 under a special tribunal order, with the cargo valued at more than 500 million CFA francs.
Gabon’s National Agency of National Parks, the ANPN, led a joint operation named
Black Mamba with special services, gendarmes, the national police, a special GAS
unit and the immigration and documentation directorate.[1]The operation
intercepted 130 people described as being in an irregular immigration status,
most of them from Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin and Nigeria.[1]L’Union reported
that the arrested people were picked up in a series of targeted operations in
sensitive areas of Gabonese territory.[2]
Authorities seized2,778 kilograms of cannabis in Operation Black Mamba, a haul
the outlets described as a record.[1]An investigating judge at the special
tribunal signed a destruction order authorising the public incineration of the
cargo.[3]L’Union said the cannabis was estimated to be worth more than 500
million CFA francs on the market and was publicly burned on the order of the
Libreville special tribunal’s investigating judge.[2]
Colonel Hubert Ella Ekogha, the ANPN’s technical director and a special adviser
to the president, praised coordination among the forces and called the operation
a turning point in the fight against illicit trafficking.[1]The agencies said
the operation formed part of government efforts to secure sensitive zones, in
particular protected areas.[1]
Photos and video
The cargo of cannabis seized during Operation Black Mamba, described in the caption as seized and later burned. Photo: D.R.Photo details
Gabonactugabonactu.comFR130 clandestins et 2 778 kilogrammes de cannabis saisis et incinérés
Open questions the AI reported
The sources do not say where the cannabis was seized or where the 130 people were detained; L’Union’s headline names Cap Estérias, while the ANPN and L’Union text place the incineration in Libreville.
The ANPN describes the burned amount as more than 2.6 tonnes, while the news accounts give 2,778 kg as the seizure weight; the rounded lower threshold is not an exact conflicting measurement.
Only the ANPN post gives the date of the incineration, 29 April 2025; the detention operation is described only as recent.
The value of more than 500 million CFA francs is an estimate rather than an exact valuation.
The sources do not report whether any of the 130 people faced cannabis-related charges or give later custody or court outcomes.
The ANPN post carries four attached photos without captions or alt text identifying their content, so they are not listed as event media.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in Agence Nationale des Parcs Nationaux: The ANPN said more than 2.6 tonnes of cannabis, valued at more than 500 million CFA francs, were burned in Libreville on 29 April 2025.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in Gabon24: Gabon24 reported that the ANPN presented the operation as a blow to transnational organised-crime networks operating in Gabon.
Gabonese security and intelligence forces dismantled a cross-border drug network in Woleu-Ntem, seizing nearly 500 bundles of cannabis valued at about 16 million CFA francs. Investigators intercepted the drugs in Bitam and Méyo-Kyé near the Cameroon border and detained several suspects, including a woman near 70 and a 22-year-old student.
The Mouila prosecutor's office destroyed 750 kg of cannabis in fifteen 50 kg sacks on court orders around 14 October 2026. The drug, worth about 10 million FCFA, came from seizures stored under seal over several years.
Gabonese gendarmes seized 80 kg of cannabis in 225 bundles at Malinga near the Congolese border, arresting three suspects travelling in a food-transport vehicle. The haul was valued at nearly 10 million CFA francs and placed under seal pending a prosecutor-ordered investigation.
Gabon's OCLAD and three intelligence services seized 1.32 tonnes of cannabis, packed in 65 sacks and valued at nearly 800 million CFA francs, from a boat arriving from Nigeria. Eight Nigerian, Beninese, Togolese and Gabonese suspects were brought before the prosecutor and jailed at Libreville central prison on 3 August 2026.
