/ 13 August 2007

Mauritania seizes cocaine worth more than $100m

Authorities seized cocaine worth more than $100-million on Monday in Mauritania’s capital — the country’s largest haul ever, officials said.

Security agents arrested five people — two Moroccans, a Senegalese and two Mauritanians with 830kg of cocaine, said state prosecutor Ben Amar Ould Veten, who also heads a legal team investigating drug trafficking in the country. He said the street value of the drug was about $115-million.

The desert country recently stepped up efforts to combat drug-trafficking. There are concerns that it was becoming a transit point for drugs coming from South America and headed to Europe — where cocaine is fetching ever higher prices.

Veten said the drugs were taken from a store in Nouakchott and from a bus. He added that investigations are planned to determine the country of origin of the cocaine and its destination.

In July, Mauritanian authorities said they dismantled a criminal network operating in the country to smuggle drugs into to Europe. In May, Mauritanian officials captured a small Venezuelan plane with about 620kg of cocaine aboard. — Sapa-AP