Earlier this month, Burkina Faso’s customs service seized 9,600 cans of Vody, an alcoholic energy drink banned in the country since June 2024, from trucks travelling along the Cinkansé–Ouagadougou corridor. The drinks were concealed beneath clinker, a raw material used in cement production. The trucks also carried 10,800 cans of Desperados and 1.31 million medicine tablets.
Vody has been banned since 24 June 2024, when an interministerial order barred the production, importation, sale and possession of alcoholic energy drinks and drinks containing doping substances, citing consumer health. The seizure belongs to Operation Manya, a customs campaign that ran from 10 July to 15 October 2026 and seized goods worth 10.86 billion CFA francs, mostly pharmaceuticals. Customs gave no value for the drinks.
Concealed Under Clinker
Three Togo-registered trucks were intercepted over about two weeks, the last two days before the 9 October presentation. One carried 9,600 cans of Vody, equal to 2,400 litres, and 1,200 cans of Desperados. Another carried 9,600 cans of Desperados, and the third carried the medicines, which customs calls counterfeit or unregistered.
Yves Kafando, the director-general of customs, said the fraud has persisted despite earlier arrests and that controls will be tightened. He said the goods fall under the Patriotic Support Fund levy, which customs says helps finance the effort to retake territory, so smuggling them in costs the state revenue.
Trader Cites Lagos Route
A trader who owned part of the drinks says he bought them in Lagos, Nigeria, shipped them to Lomé, Togo, and hired intermediaries to truck them to Burkina Faso. He says the 400 cartons seized were the remainder of an order of 2,000, and that he did not know they would be hidden under clinker. His account has not been independently confirmed, and if accurate it means most of that order had already been shipped.
Official Record Is Silent
Remarks about banned drinks have been attributed to President Ibrahim Traoré at a meeting with regional governors in Ouagadougou. The presidency’s account of that meeting, held on 12 October, covers a new national sports league meant to steer young people away from drugs and alcohol, and does not mention Vody or importers. His position on enforcement is therefore unconfirmed.
Trade minister Serge Poda said in January 2025 that the ban has no end date and that the borders are sometimes porous. Since then, 225 cartons of Vody were seized in Ouagadougou in February 2026 and city police targeted about ten shops in April 2026, so how much banned product has already reached shoppers is not known.
