Irregular emigration: several arrests in Mbour and Joal-Fadiouth

Units of the Mbour Gendarmerie company carried out two operations on October 26, 2026 against suspected migrant smuggling networks. These interventions notably led to the arrest of several suspects and the discovery of twelve Malian nationals in a house.

As part of the fight against irregular emigration, units of the Mbour Gendarmerie company carried out, on October 26, 2026, two operations leading to the arrest of several people suspected of being involved in migrant smuggling activities.

Following the use of information transmitted by the Cayar brigade, the Mbour research brigade arrested two individuals for criminal association, migrant smuggling and endangering the lives of others. The investigations also made it possible to discover a house in which twelve Malian nationals were gathered, including ten boys and two girls.

Furthermore, in Joal-Fadiouth, the territorial brigade, with the support of the Environment Section detachment based in this locality, intercepted at sea a small boat which was transferring candidates for irregular emigration to a large canoe bound for Spain.

The operation gave rise to several arrests. Those arrested are notably suspected of having participated in the organization of the trip and an attempt at corruption aimed at obtaining the release of those arrested.

The material seized includes a small canoe, a 40-horsepower engine, a Jakarta-type motorcycle and twenty fuel cans of different capacities. The people arrested were made available to the competent units for the purposes of ongoing investigations.