Authorities in Guinea-Bissau say they have seized 2.63 tonnes of cocaine found on a plane at the capital’s international airport, in an operation local reports describe as the largest drugs seizure in the country’s history. The aircraft had arrived from Venezuela, according to the police statement cited by Reuters and reported by the BBC.
The seizure included at least 78 bales of cocaine. All five crew members were detained, including the pilot. Among those in custody are two Mexicans, one Colombian, one Ecuadorian and one Brazilian, according to the BBC report.
The operation, dubbed Operation Landing, was carried out with support from the US Drug Enforcement Administration and the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre-Narcotics, a European body. That international involvement matters because Guinea-Bissau has long been viewed as a transit point in global cocaine trafficking rather than just a domestic law-enforcement problem.
The country’s location and fragile institutions have made it a persistent target for traffickers moving narcotics toward Europe. The UN has previously referred to Guinea-Bissau as a narco-state, and the BBC report notes that the country has struggled for years to counter the use of its territory as a conduit for drugs.
Local reporting suggested the plane may have been registered in Mexico. That detail, if confirmed, would add another layer to a route that already appears to connect South America, West Africa and Europe through multiple jurisdictions.
The police said they were working to dismantle the network behind the shipment. That is an important distinction: seizing the drugs is only the first step, because the logistics and financing behind a 2.63-tonne shipment imply an organised transnational chain rather than a single flight or isolated smuggling attempt.
The scale of the bust also underscores how difficult it is for Guinea-Bissau to police its territory. Since independence from Portugal in 1974, the country has had nine coups, leaving weak state institutions and recurrent instability. Those conditions have repeatedly been cited as part of the reason criminal networks can operate there.
Earlier in 2024, the son of Guinea-Bissau’s former president was sentenced in the United States to more than six years in prison for leading an international heroin trafficking ring. That case, together with this seizure, shows the country remains central to wider narcotics flows that extend far beyond its borders.
For now, the police announcement marks a rare high-profile interdiction. Whether it translates into prosecutions or long-term disruption will depend on how effectively investigators can follow the trail from the airport floor to the organisers behind the shipment.
