Libreville: a Beninese passenger arrested with prohibited ritual objects

The services of the Gabonese surveillance and customs tourist brigade announced the arrest, on the night of Saturday, September 20, of a Beninese passenger at Léon-Mba international airport.

According to the official press releases and the local media, the discovery was made during a routine control carried out on the arrival of a flight operated by the Camair-Co company. The agents would have gotten their hands on a substantial batch of carefully wrapped esoteric objects, whose nature has motivated their immediate seizure.

Identified as Dominique Hounye Houngbonon, the traveler from Cotonou carried in his luggage several bags containing fetishes and ritual objects prohibited at the entrance to Gabonese territory.

Sources close to the operation indicate that this case would not be isolated. Other passengers from Benin were also reportedly arrested during the same checks. Part of the objects seized would have already been cremated by the authorities, invoking health, regulatory and preservation of public order.

Images broadcast on the official customs channels and resumed in the local press show in particular the passport of the suspect, its personal effects as well as the confiscated bags.

For the time being, the police and customs services have not communicated on the legal consequences reserved for those arrested. Observers believe, however, that this case could lead to a temporary strengthening of customs controls on air links between Cotonou and Libreville.