The Senegalese Armed Forces is taking aim at illegal logging and trafficking to slow the theft of its precious natural resources.
In May 2025, it announced that Operation Faxass in Military Zone 6 had seized 344 trunks of illegally harvested timber taken from the forests of Pata and Guimara. The operation’s name means “theft” in Wolof.
“The army is demonstrating its determination to curb this traffic, which fuels a lucrative cross-border trade, often orchestrated by well-organized networks operating between Senegal and Gambia,” the news website Dakaractu reported. “Operation FAXASS, beyond its immediate effects, sends a clear message: the forests will no longer be left in the hands of predators.”
The theft of illegal timber costs African nations an estimated $17 billion annually. One of the most prized and rarest wood types is rosewood, which is used in China for making high-end furniture. An Environmental Investigation Agency study found that more than 3 million metric tons of rosewood valued at more than $2 billion are taken annually from West Africa and sent to China.
Despite a 2022 government ban on all timber exports, The Gambia remains a major source of rosewood shipped to China each year. Smugglers move the timber harvested in Senegal’s Casamance region and ship it from the port in The Gambia’s capital, Banjul, with the help of complicit port authorities and police.
Senegal believes Operation Faxass and other efforts to protect natural resources will deter traffickers.
“By intensifying operations of this type, the armed forces hopes not only to protect the environment, but also to restore state authority in these zones that are often difficult to access and have long been open to illegal exploitation,” Dakaractu reported.