The mayor and his driver, who were in the vehicle at the time, were arrested with 199 bricks of cocaine at a checkpoint on the road heading north out of the desert trading hub of Agadez on Sunday, January 2.

The police have arrested a mayor in Northern Niger after 200kg of cocaine valued at $8.7 million, was found in his official car.

Reports indicate that the mayor and his driver, who were in the vehicle at the time, were arrested with 199 bricks of cocaine at a checkpoint on the road heading north out of the desert trading hub of Agadez on Sunday January 2.

A statement from Niger’s Central Office for the Repression of Illicit Drug Trafficking (OCRTIS) confirmed that there had been a record seizure of more than 200 kg of cocaine in Agadez, but did not give details.

This is coming after 17 tonnes of cannabis resin worth around $37 million were seized in the West African country last May.