The Special Prosecutor at the Court for the Repression of Economic Offences and Terrorism (CRIET) informs in a press release that 2575.35 kg of cocaine were seized in a store in Ekpe PK10 (municipality of Sèmé-Kpodji, about ten kilometers east of Cotonou) and 11 people arrested last week.

“In total, 2,240 platelets were counted, including one already partially disaggregated. The total weight with packages of this quantity of seized products is 2575.35 kilograms. The store is owned by the Lebanese El Dorr Zafer and is currently rented by the Ivorian national Kipre Kouadio,” the statement said. The persons arrested are of Beninese, Togolese, Burkinabe, Dutch, Lebanese and German nationalities. “The first tests carried out, in situ by the team from the Central Office for the Repression of Illicit Drug Trafficking and Precursors (OCERTID), always in the presence of the suspects, were positive for the cocaine reagent. The investigations that are still ongoing and the subsequent procedure will make it possible to determine the responsibilities of all the persons arrested and of their possible co-authors or accomplices,”