Bénin’s commitment to fighting organised crime took a significant step forward on Thursday, 18 June 2026, in Ahozon, a locality in the commune of Ouidah. The National Agency for the Recovery of Confiscated and Seized Assets (Anracs) carried out a public incineration of multiple shipments of narcotics and psychotropic substances seized across the national territory.

Among the products reduced to ashes were 95 kilogrammes of cocaine intercepted one month earlier at the Autonomous Port of Cotonou. The operation took place at the site of the Waste Management and Sanitation Company (SGDS) under the strict supervision of judicial authorities, with magistrates, senior officials from the Ministry of Justice, and detachments from the Republican Police and the Bénin Armed Forces present.

A major port seizure permanently neutralised

According to details provided by Raynier Florent Gnansomon, Director General of Anracs, these illicit substances originated from various operations conducted under the national policy to combat drug trafficking networks.

The most significant batch in this incineration was the 95 kilogrammes of pure cocaine. This consignment had been intercepted in mid-May 2026 at the Autonomous Port of Cotonou during a targeted surveillance operation by the Special River and Maritime Police Unit (USPFM). Elite agents discovered five bales of drugs ingeniously concealed in the strainer of a foreign-flagged container ship, before handing the case over to the Central Office for the Repression of Illicit Drug and Precursor Trafficking (Ocertid) for a thorough investigation.

Cannabis and psychotropics also incinerated

In addition to cocaine, Anracs oversaw the destruction of large stocks of cannabis and a significant quantity of psychotropic products seized during recent judicial proceedings.

The agency emphasised that this systematic destruction serves a dual purpose: to rigorously enforce court rulings and to permanently eliminate any risk of these dangerous products re-entering local or international criminal networks.

A highly secure, regulated operation

The convoy, security of the Ahozon site, and monitoring of the combustion process were entrusted to an impressive combined force of military and police personnel.

“Their destruction is one of our prerogatives,” stated Raynier Florent Gnansomon. He stressed that Anracs is thereby fulfilling its legal mandate to manage and liquidate assets seized in the context of transnational crime. By being permanently removed from judicial seals and consumed in flames, these toxic products mark the conclusion of several procedures aimed at dismantling mafia networks in Bénin.