Cocaine is displayed to journalists after being seized by Guinea-Bissau's judicial police in the capital Bissau March 21, 2012. Picture taken March 21, 2012./File Photo
Cocaine is displayed to journalists after being seized by Guinea-Bissau's judicial police in the capital Bissau March 21, 2012. Picture taken March 21, 2012./File Photo Reuters / Joe Penney

Guinea's navy and military police have seized about three tonnes of cocaine they found hidden on a ship anchored in Guinean waters, they said on Thursday.

"Two shipments (of drugs) were seized," navy captain Mamadou Yaya Diallo told reporters.

A spokesman for the national gendarmerie specified that it was about three tonnes of cocaine.

"The crew members were immediately arrested. They are six Sierra Leoneans and one Guinean," said gendarmerie spokesman Aboubacar Saran Bangoura, adding that the arrests were made for the purposes of investigation.

Drug smugglers often use West Africa as a transit point for cocaine en route from South America to Europe.

Last year Gambia seized nearly three tonnes of cocaine in one of the region's largest hauls. Senegal also seized about two tonnes last year.

Record quantities of cocaine were seized in West Africa in 2019, including 9.5 tonnes from a ship that docked in Cape Verde.