Business in Cameroon | Customs officers at Douala International Airport, in Cameroon’s bustling economic hub, seized a consignment of 24 kg of cocaine from Sao Paulo, Brazil, on May 30, 2024. The announcement came from the communications department of the General Directorate of Customs under the Ministry of Finance. The intercepted shipment is reported to be worth $2 million or over one billion CFA francs, as per the same source
The drugs were concealed in eight packages weighing a total of 166 kg. Upon inspection of these packages, “customs officers found shoes and handbags with wooden handles, inside which 24.5 kg of cocaine were carefully concealed,” it was reported. The suspect, approximately 60 years old, along with the evidence, was handed over to the Public Prosecutor near the Douala-Bonanjo High Court.
This is one of the largest drug seizures in recent years at Douala International Airport. It is also the second significant cocaine seizure at this airport since the beginning of 2024. Indeed, 15 kg of cocaine had already been seized at the same airport on February 27, 2024, on a Turkish Airlines flight. Valued at approximately CFA600 million, the shipment was concealed in boxes and bottles of cosmetic products.
Since 2016, there has been a notable rise in drug seizures and the interception of other illicit goods at Douala and Yaoundé-Nsimalen airports, which are the primary airports in Cameroon. This increase is attributed to the establishment of anti-trafficking airport units (CAAT) in select airports across the country.
According to the regulations establishing them, CAATs are responsible for “collecting and sharing information in real-time between connected airports, as part of the fight against illicit trafficking; conducting more efficient checks on people, baggage, cargo, and postal items in transit, upon arrival and departure, in the fight against illicit trafficking; and conducting risk analysis.”