Arabic version: ارتفاع ضبطيات الكوكايين في تونس مع اتساع طرق التهريب
According to Allafrica, Tunisia’s customs authorities seized more than 101 kg of cocaine in the first nine months of 2026, exceeding the 94 kg recorded during all of 2025 and 33 kg in 2024. Officials say the figures reflect a sustained increase in cocaine trafficking attempts.
Mohamed Ali Chaïbi, head of the narcotics control unit at the El Gorjani Judicial Police Directorate, said seizures had risen nearly a thousandfold in a decade, from about 150 grammes in 2013 to more than 140 kg in 2023. He cited trafficking across Tunisia’s approximately 460-km border with Libya as a route for large quantities of drugs.
A January 2026 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime described Libya as a less costly and easier alternative for drug transit, storage and distribution across North Africa and beyond. The report said Libya had developed from a transit country into an emerging hub for cocaine trafficking towards Europe and the Middle East.
Tunisian authorities have regularly reported foiling cocaine trafficking attempts at the Ras Jedir crossing with Libya. In February 2026, nearly 30 kg of cocaine were seized there from a foreign-registered vehicle arriving from Libya, one of Tunisia’s largest seizures of the drug.
The UNODC also identified a reverse flow from European ports, including Marseille and Genoa, to Tunisia’s La Goulette and Radès ports. Cocaine may be hidden in cars or commercial trucks carried on ferries. Chaïbi stressed the need for joint investigations and information-sharing with neighbouring countries and international partners.
