The National Division for Combating Migrant Smuggling (DNLT), through its Karang branch, dismantled a migrant smuggling network by intercepting five candidates for irregular emigration and arresting their organizer.

On Thursday, April 15, 2026, at around 5 p.m., members of the DNLT's Interception, Surveillance and Tracking Brigade intercepted five Senegalese candidates for irregular emigration, coming from Thiès, as they attempted to cross the Gambian border to board a pirogue.

The five arrested are O.SY , aged 22, motorcycle taxi driver residing in Thiès-Diamaguène; A.SARR, aged 29, street vendor residing in Thiès; N.DIENG, aged 28, trader residing in Altou Ndagalma; M.NDIAYE, aged 19, metal welder residing in Thiès; and M.SALAM, aged 29, Koranic student residing in Thiès.

Under formal questioning, the five candidates unanimously stated that they had been recruited into this clandestine travel scheme by a certain Adama Diouldé Diallo, with whom they had agreed on a payment of 450,000 CFA francs upon arrival in The Gambia. They also specified that there were initially eight candidates from Thiès, but that three of them had managed to cross the border and reach Gambian territory, where the organizer was waiting for them.

On the same day, a sting operation set up by investigators led to the arrest of Adama Diouldé Sow in Karang. Taken to the station's headquarters, he readily admitted to the charges against him, but only acknowledged his role as a recruiter, failing to convince the investigators. The investigation revealed that he was a very active member of this migrant smuggling network and that he was being sought by other migrants from whom he had allegedly extorted three million CFA francs in October 2025, promising to transport them by sea to Spain.

Following the investigation, Adama Diouldé Sow was brought before the public prosecutor at the Fatick High Court on April 20, 2026, to answer for his actions. The five individuals attempting irregular migration were released after their detention.