On 26 May 2024, gendarmes from the Mewoulou post in Yaoundé’s 6th subdivision arrested suspected drug trafficker Nté Eric and seized three bags of cannabis weighing 45 kilograms in total.[1] The arrest took place at about 4 p.m. behind the Etoug-Ebe bilingual high school after a search carefully organized by the officers.[1] He was presented to the press in Yaoundé on 4 June 2024, where he said he had turned to the illegal trade to support his poor and sick mother.[2] The former Yaoundé taxi driver said he took up the activity, which he considered more profitable, to care for his poor and very ill mother.[1]

He said he noticed people buying and using cannabis at the Omnisport stadium, decided it was a lucrative market, and began selling there at 3,000 francs per packet.[1] He said he had already raised 815,000 francs toward the one million he needed for her care.[1] The interim commander of the Yaoundé II gendarmerie company reported that the three confiscated bags weighed 45 kilograms in total.[3] Acting on information provided by Eric, the authorities opened an investigation to arrest his accomplices.[3]