About 50 tonnes of cocaine are shipped through West Africa each year

The governor, mayor and top police officials of a town in Guinea have been arrested in a drugs raid.

The officials from the northern town of Boke were taken to the capital, Conakry, for questioning.

An aircraft allegedly carrying a large quantity of cocaine mysteriously landed and took off early on Thursday in Boke.

The UN says Latin American drugs cartels are using West Africa as a transit point to smuggle huge quantities of cocaine to Europe.

The BBC's Alhassan Sillah in Conakry says the plane landed at Boke airport at 0400 local time on Thursday.

It was suspected to have come from neighbouring Guinea-Bissau, which observers warn is in danger of becoming a "narco-state".

In a separate raid on the same day, Conakry police and soldiers swooped on a truck, allegedly loaded with cocaine and cannabis.

Our reporter says the quantities of drugs seized have not been revealed.

The UN estimates that at least 50 tonnes of cocaine are shipped through the West African region every year.



