Gabon seizes nearly 500 cannabis bundles in Woleu-Ntem
Security services dismantled a cross-border trafficking network in Bitam, arresting several suspects, including a woman who says she has sold cannabis for 17 years.
Security and intelligence services seized nearly 500 bundles of cannabis, estimated at about 16 million FCFA, during a special operation in the Woleu-Ntem region. Several people suspected of supplying a cross-border sales network were also arrested.
Investigators in Bitam, in the Méyo-Kyé district, found two large bundles holding more than 453 cannabis bundles, reportedly grown, packed and stored near homes. The alleged owner fled, and her son indirectly acknowledged the facts. A Gabonese woman and a Cameroonian man are suspected of drug sales and illegal ammunition sales. A woman close to 70 and a 22-year-old high school student were also detained.
Prosecutor Léance Mba Mihindou, of the specialised national prosecution office, said the authorities maintain a zero-tolerance policy on narcotics. The network reportedly linked Méyo-Kyé, Kiossi in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, and traffickers had shifted some activity inland as the Grand Libreville market dried up.
Why it mattersResidents of Bitam and surrounding districts face arrests and the seizure of a large cannabis stock, and the network reportedly reached across the Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea borders.