6.7 tonnes of cannabis-yielding seeds seized at Radès port
Tunisian customs at the port of Radès seized 6.7 tonnes of sunflower seeds mixed with cannabis that laboratory tests found cultivable to obtain cannabis. The bird-feed consignments had arrived twice through the same port, and the file was sent to customs investigators with no suspects named.
Customs officers at the port of Radès in Tunisia carried out what was described
as an exceptional seizure of 6.7 tonnes of sunflower seeds mixed with cannabis.[1]The published account did not specify the number of people involved in the
case.[1]The agency said the case file was transmitted to the customs
investigations directorate.[1]
The suspected goods were bird feed that had been imported twice through the same
port.[1]Border customs officers in charge of controlling the warehouses of
the Radès customs office analysed samples in a laboratory.[1]Laboratory
results showed that the seeds were cultivable and could be used to obtain
cannabis.[1]The Tunisian press agency TAP reported the seizure on the basis
of a communiqué issued by Customs.[1]
The checks focused on the warehouses of the Radès customs office, where officers
took the samples for testing.[1]Beyond transmission of the file, no charges
or court outcomes were mentioned.[1]Both of the suspect bird-feed imports had
entered through the port of Radès.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
The article gives no separate date for the seizure; 24 October 2018 is its publication date and is used as the incident date.
The separable cannabis weight was not given; 6.7 tonnes describes sunflower seeds mixed with cannabis, while the headline presents it as more than 6 tonnes of cannabis, so no kilograms are recorded.
The number of people involved was not specified, and no arrests, charges or court outcomes were reported beyond referral to the customs investigations directorate.
Only one accessible source was opened; the account relies on TAP citing a Customs statement and no second independent source was found.
Tunisia's customs administration said customs guard units seized more than 153 kg of cannabis at border crossings and inside the country in the first nine months of 2026, alongside more than 101 kg of cocaine and 18.6 million narcotic tablets. Spokesman Colonel Chokri Jabri said customs opened more than 11,000 cases in the period involving goods worth over 190 million dinars.
Security units in Sousse Sud, Tunisia, seized 30 slabs of cannabis resin, known as zatla, on the evening of 31 October 2026 and seized a car. Radio Marina reported that a suspect was arrested and detained on the public prosecutor's authorisation, while the search for other members of the network continued.
Tunisia's National Guard seized 110 slabs of cannabis resin, known as zatla, and 338 pieces of cannabis across the country during September 2026. Its general directorate said in a video that the month's anti-drug operations also led to the detention of 1,515 people.
The interior ministry reported on 7 March 2026 that 2025 brought 181,998 judicial cases in total, 14,300 of them drug-trafficking cases, and 69,164 arrests, 20,289 for drug trafficking. It also reported seizures of cannabis, 479,830 tablets, 146.77 kg of cocaine and 751.25 g of heroin. The figures cover police and national guard, not customs.
