Among the illicit substances reduced to ashes were 95 kilograms of cocaine, which had been intercepted just a month prior at the Autonomous Port of Cotonou. This crucial operation, carried out at the site of the Waste Management and Sanitation Company (SGDS), unfolded under the strict oversight of judicial authorities. Magistrates, high-ranking representatives from the Ministry of Justice, along with detachments from the Republican Police and the Beninese Armed Forces, were all present to ensure compliance and transparency.

Major port seizure permanently neutralized

Raynier Florent Gnansomon, the Director General of Anracs, clarified that these illegal narcotics were the result of various enforcement actions undertaken as part of Bénin’s national strategy to dismantle drug trafficking networks.

The most substantial portion of this incineration involved the 95 kilograms of pure cocaine. This particular shipment was seized in mid-May 2026 at the Autonomous Port of Cotonou during a targeted surveillance operation conducted by the Special River and Maritime Police Unit (USPFM). Elite officers discovered five carefully concealed bales of the drug within the strainer of a foreign-flagged container vessel. The case was subsequently handed over to the Central Office for the Repression of Illicit Drug and Precursor Trafficking (Ocertid) for in-depth investigation.

Cannabis and psychotropics also incinerated

Beyond the cocaine, Anracs also oversaw the destruction of extensive quantities of cannabis and a significant volume of psychotropic substances, all confiscated through recent legal proceedings.

The agency emphasized that this systematic destruction serves a dual purpose: to rigorously enforce judicial rulings and to definitively eliminate any risk of these hazardous products re-entering criminal supply chains, whether local or international.

Regulatory high-security operation

The transportation, securing of the Ahozon site, and monitoring of the combustion process were managed by an impressive joint force of military and police personnel.

“Their destruction is one of our core responsibilities,” affirmed Raynier Florent Gnansomon. He highlighted that Anracs is thereby fulfilling its legal mandate for the management and liquidation of assets seized in connection with transnational crime. By being permanently removed from judicial custody and consumed by fire, these toxic substances signify the successful conclusion of multiple operations to dismantle criminal networks within Bénin.