Niger's OCRTIS arrests eight and seizes 40.5 kg of cannabis in Konni and Zinder
Niger's police said the OCRTIS anti-drug office seized 40.545 kg of cannabis and arrested eight people in Konni and Zinder, in a statement dated 17 January 2024. A Konni home search found 1.035 kg of cannabis plus non-cannabis pills, three Nigerians were held at Illela with 17.795 kg, and four Nigeriens were caught in Zinder with 23.555 kg and 695 g.
🇳🇪 Konni, Tahoua Region, and Zinder · Niger
Arrested
8
Cannabis
40.545 kg
Agencies
Office Central de Répression du Trafic Illicite des Stupéfiants (OCRTIS), Police Nationale du Niger
Niger’s national police announced in a statement dated 17 January 2024 that
officers had seized large quantities of drugs in Konni department, in the Tahoua
region, and in the Zinder region.[1]An operation by the Konni branch of
Niger’s Central Office for the Suppression of Illicit Drug Trafficking (OCRTIS)
led officers to arrest a man at his home in Konni department, where the search
turned up 1.035 kg of cannabis.[1]The same search found 294.5 tramadol
tablets, 55 diazepam D5 tablets and 251 exol tablets, none of them cannabis.[1]Investigators said the man was the local receiver for an international
cannabis network whose main supplier worked at Amarawa, near Illela in Nigeria,
with another branch at Kalmalo in Nigeria, delivering to customers in Konni.[1]
Three Nigerian nationals were arrested at Illela on 12 January 2024 carrying
17.795 kg of cannabis on a motorcycle towards Konni.[1]The cannabis was
hidden among sacks holding cans of smuggled fuel to deceive the defence and
security forces along the border.[1]
In a separate case in the Zinder region, the OCRTIS regional service arrested
four Nigerien nationals found with cannabis.[1]The first of the four had 45
balls weighing 23.555 kg intended for sale at Djado, the second was carrying 275
grams of cannabis, and the other two had 67 paper cones weighing 420 grams.[1]The first two were arrested after police received information in the Gangaran
Djida neighbourhood of Zinder, and the other two were arrested at the barrier.[1]
Photos and video
Cannabis packages laid out for presentation, captioned by Bénin Web TV as the 39.78 kg of cannabis seized by Nigerien police.Photo details
The only opened account is a Bénin Web TV report relaying the police statement; the Nigerien police site lists the statement on the same date but its page returned an error when opened.
The statement gives 17 January 2024 as its date; only the three Illela arrests have a stated event date, 12 January 2024, and the dates of the Konni home search and the Zinder arrests are not given.
The report gives no figures for the Konni man's own share beyond the 1.035 kg seized at his home and does not state whether charges were filed or what happened to the eight people held.
The seizure values are not given for any of the four amounts.
The Illela arrests are placed in Nigeria, while Konni's branch, which led the inquiry, is in Niger; the report does not say which country's courts would handle those suspects.
The page photo is captioned with a 39.78 kg total while this statement sums to 40.545 kg of cannabis, and its upload folder is from 2022, years before this operation, so it may not show this seizure.
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.
