Major cocaine shipment seized

Gambian authorities seized nearly three tons of cocaine from a shipment of industrial salt originating in Ecuador, one of the largest ever busts in West Africa. SABC News reports that the 118 bags of cocaine were discovered on Thursday during a search of a container shipped from the port of Guayaquil in Ecuador and through Algeciras in Spain, said Ousman Saidybah, a spokesman for Gambia’s drug enforcement agency. It was not clear where the cocaine was ultimately headed. Drug smugglers generally use West Africa as a platform for cocaine enroute from South America to Europe. ‘This seizure is yet another confirmation that the Gambia, like other West African states, continues to be a storage and transit route for cocaine by international organised criminal groups,’ he told reporters.