A joint operation by Gabon’s Central Anti-Drug Office (OCLAD), backed by the DGR, the DGDI and the DGSI, dismantled a cross-border network trafficking cannabis from Nigeria.[1] Investigators seized 1 tonne and 320 kilogrammes (1,320 kg) of cannabis packed in 65 sacks and valued at nearly 800 million CFA francs.[2] The agency’s statement put the 1.32 tonnes in 51 sacks at nearly 80 million CFA francs.[1] Eight suspects of Nigerian, Beninese, Togolese and Gabonese nationality were arrested, or, as the agency put it, several people of different nationalities.[2]

Investigators found the cargo arrived by sea aboard a pirogue, a wooden fishing canoe, from Nigeria carrying the cannabis hidden among its load.[2] The same boat was carrying six irregular migrants, one man and five women of Nigerian, Togolese and Beninese nationality.[1] Investigators suspect a vast cross-border criminal network whose main sponsors are based in Nigeria.[1]

A Nigerian national presented as one of the couriers said he accepted the job for a promised 600,000 CFA francs “per trip”.[1] He admitted knowing the cargo was illegal, saying: “It was the money that pushed me to this. What mattered to me was the money.”[1] Investigators suspect a Beninese national of being the network’s main relay in Libreville; he says he was drawn in about six months ago and coerced after threats to lend his vehicle.[2] A Gabonese suspect was presented as the local distributor, admitted selling cannabis for two years, and said the proceeds paid for hospital visits and medicine.[1]

All the suspects were brought before the prosecutor and jailed at Libreville central prison on 3 August 2026.[1] The court had not yet tried them; they were held pending judgement, as the local press put it.[3] The operation was part of repeated drives by specialised Gabonese services against drug routes between neighbouring countries and Gabon, and investigators were still working to identify the network’s leaders and financiers.[2]