A spokesman for Niger Anti-Drugs Trafficking Agency, Adili Toro, said on Friday that police in his country seized at least 17 tons of drugs, worth in the region of 37 million dollars, in a consignment originating in Lebanon, which was destined for Libya.

Toro added that the consignment of drugs passed through the port of Lome in Togo, before being transported by road north to Niamey, the capital of Niger.

The smugglers' intention was then to further transport the shipment by trucks to Libya through the desert city of Agadez.

Crimes