A Grimaldi ro-ro vessel has been caught up in a major drug bust in Senegal in West Africa over the weekend.
Reports say 750 kg of the drug were found inside new cars heading from Brazil to Europe aboard the 56,700-gt ro-ro Grande Nigeria (built 2002) when she arrived in Dakar.
The discovery follows the seizure last Wednesday of 238 kg of cocaine smuggled from Brazil in a similar manner through Dakar.
Drug smugglers use West Africa as a transhipment point for cocaine en route from South America to Europe.
This is also the second time the Grande Nigeria has been caught up in drug smuggling in less than 12 months.
On 7 August 2018 the ship was in the Brazlian port of Santos when a speedboat was seen alongside, with objects being hoisted from the boat to the cargo deck.
Port security forces were informed and a search of the vessel revealed 1.2t of cocaine hidden inside shipping containers.
A week later 1.3t of cocaine was seized aboard Grimaldi’s 56,700-gt ro-ro Grande Francia (built 2002). It had been boarded by armed men while in the Santos outer anchorage.
Last year shipowners using Brazilian ports were warned that drug smugglers may target their vessels in a bid to export drugs to the west.
“Drug smugglers in Brazil continue to target commercial shipping,” UK-based security consultancy Gray Page said at the time.
