540 kg of cannabis seized from river pirogue in Gaya
Gaya's river gendarmerie seized 560 bricks weighing 540 kg of cannabis from a motorised pirogue on the River Niger on 17 August 2022. The drugs were presented to departmental authorities that evening, while no number or identity of those involved had been disclosed.
Gaya’s river brigade of the gendarmerieseized drugs on the River Niger on
Wednesday 17 August 2022.[1]The operation took place at the Guirawa post in
the rural commune of Tounouga, 23 km from the town of Gaya.[1]Officers
presented the seized drugs to the departmental authorities on the evening of 17
August.[1]No number or identity of the people involved in the trafficking had
been disclosed at the time of publication.[1]
Officers seized 560 bricks weighing 540 kg of cannabis, known locally as chanvre
indien, from a motorised pirogue crossing the River Niger toward a neighbouring
country.[1]The 540 kg were packed in seven bales of 80 bricks each.[1]
Gaya department borders Benin to the west and Nigeria to the south and is
described as a hub for drug and other trafficking.[1]The department lies in
southern Niger in the Dosso region.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Niamey Customs Brigade officers intercepted 154 balls of cannabis about 22 km south of the Kouré checkpoint on 9 September 2026, a haul Customs called a brigade record. Acting on prior intelligence, officers stopped the suspect cargo before it continued; no arrests were reported.
Police in Tamaské, Tahoua region, seized 45 kg of cannabis and arrested two suspects on 22 April 2026. Local and departmental authorities praised the operation as a blow to trafficking networks and urged residents to report suspicious activity.
Niger's OCRTIS anti-narcotics office dismantled a transnational cannabis network on 31 March 2026 when a routine check of an Algerian-registered truck bound for Tamanrasset found 154 bricks and 28 balls of cannabis hidden in a chassis compartment and spare tyres. Ten people aged 16 to 42 were detained; the load was valued at more than 30 million CFA francs.
Niger's anti-drug office, OCRTIS, arrested two suspected members of a cross-border cannabis network in Konni, Tahoua Region, one of them a Nigerian courier stopped at Saléoua. The case began with 44.225 kg of cannabis resin found in Konni on 30 October and ended with some 57 kg of cannabis seized in all, alongside tens of thousands of psychotropic pills.
