On the night of Friday, May 16, 2026, around midnight, officers from the Research Brigade of the Sédhiou central police station were conducting a large-scale security operation throughout the city. It was during this operation that an anonymous tip led investigators to the Mansacouda neighborhood, where a clandestine fuel trafficking network had been reported, according to Seneweb sources.

On site, police seized a substantial quantity of gasoline: four 1.5-liter bottles, four 20-liter jerrycans filled with gasoline, and fifty empty 20-liter jerrycans. The suspect, apprehended at the scene, gave his name: B. Mané, born in 1977 in Fanda, a photographer by profession, residing in the Montagne Rouge neighborhood of Sédhiou.

A trade justified by shortages, but organized on a large scale

During his interrogation, B. Mané readily admitted to the facts. He explained that he had engaged in this illegal activity due to the recurring fuel shortages plaguing the Sédhiou region. His modus operandi was simple: he purchased fuel from local gas stations at the official price of 920 FCFA per liter, before reselling it on the black market for 1,200 FCFA per liter, a profit margin of 280 FCFA per liter sold.

Further investigations led to the identification of three service stations complicit in this scheme. Summoned and questioned, their managers all admitted to selling fuel to B.Mané in twenty-liter jerrycans, in flagrant violation of current legislation, and fully aware of the security risks associated with this type of transaction.

On Monday, May 18, 2026, on the instructions of the public prosecutor of Sédhiou, B.Mané was brought to the prosecutor's office for the illegal storage and sale of hydrocarbon products.