Customs seize 503 kg of cannabis in two stops in Abidjan
Ivorian customs officers seized 559 blocks of cannabis weighing 503.1 kg in two vehicle stops in Koumassi and Port-Bouët, Abidjan, on 5 and 6 March 2022. Two men found in a minibus at Port-Bouët were handed to the DPSD drug police, while the drivers of the first vehicle fled.
🇨🇮 Koumassi and Port-Bouët, Abidjan · Côte d'Ivoire
Arrested
2
Cannabis
503.1 kg
Agencies
Douanes ivoiriennes (GIRA), Direction de la Police des Stupéfiants et des Drogues (DPSD)
Customs officers made a second seizure of 356 cannabis blocks weighing 302.4 kg
on Sunday 6 March 2022.[1]The drugs were hidden in a minibus at the Akwaba
crossroads in Port-Bouët, with two men aboard.[1]The two men were handed over
to the DPSD, the national police drugs squad.[1]The day before, officers of
the GIRA customs unit chased a Peugeot to the Camp Commando crossroads in
Koumassi.[1]A search of the car found 203 blocks weighing 182.7 kg.[1]The
transporters fled, abandoning the vehicle and the illicit goods.[1]The two
seizures totalled 559 blocks weighing 503.1 kg.[1]
Customs said the operations formed part of its mission to protect the population
from trafficking in arms, drugs and psychotropic substances.[1]It said the
seizures were carried out under Law No. 88-686 of 22 July 1988 against drug
trafficking and customs code articles on the contraband import of prohibited
goods.[1]That law makes importing, exporting, transporting and possessing
psychotropic substances an offence.[1]Customs Director General Da Pierre
Alphonse congratulated his officers and called on the population to help by
denouncing fraud and trafficking.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Arrested
2
Cannabis
503.1 kg
Agencies
Douanes ivoiriennes (GIRA); Direction de la Police des Stupéfiants et des Drogues (DPSD)
Agency type
Customs, Anti-narcotics agency, Police
Cannabis
Herbal cannabis (503.1 kg)
Activity
Trafficking
Setting
Vehicle
Case stage
Under investigation
Operation
5 Mar 2022 – 6 Mar 2022
Region
Abidjan
Sources
Afrik Soirafriksoir.netFRCôte d’Ivoire : Une demi tonne de cannabis saisie à Koumassi et Port-Bouët dans des voitures
Open questions the AI reported
No charge, court date or outcome is reported for the two men handed to the DPSD.
No suspect is named for either seizure, and no arrest was reported after the Peugeot was abandoned.
The article describes the drug only as cannabis in blocks and does not say whether it was herbal cannabis or resin.
The two seizure weights it gives, 182.7 kg and 302.4 kg, add up to 485.1 kg, not the 503.1 kg total it reports; the report uses the stated total.
No street value was published for the 503.1 kg.
The whole account rests on one article, an Afrik Soir piece credited to Nouveau Réveil; no separate customs statement or second outlet report was found.
The customs code articles are cited for contraband import, but the article gives no origin or intended destination for the shipments.
Police seized 160.5 kg of cannabis in 160 blocks from a studio in Bimbresso, Songon, on 3 November 2026 and arrested two men. The suspects and drugs were handed to the anti-drug police, who are continuing the investigation.
Ivory Coast's anti-drug units arrested 152 people and destroyed 131 fumoirs, drug-smoking rooms, during Operation Vacances sécurisées 11, the 2026 school-holiday security drive. The prefect of police said the operation seized 774.075 kg of cannabis; he gave the results at Bingerville on 29 October 2026, as he launched its successor, Épervier 12.
The anti-drug unit of the Autonomous Port of Abidjan seized 25.10 kg of cannabis in Grand-Bassam on 22 October 2026 and arrested two people, who were held for investigation. The operation was part of Opération Épervier Spécial.
GRAD officers arrested two people at Mondoukou on 15 October 2026, seizing 53.003 kg of cannabis and 4,808 diverted medicine tablets while destroying seven drug-use dens. The haul was also presented as the unit's cumulative result for 1 to 15 October under Opération Épervier Spécial.
