South Africa is ranked among the top 20 countries with highest crime rates in the world, according to the latest Global Organised Crime Index (GOCI) made available to APA on Friday.
The report ranked South Africa in 19th position in the world of organised crime such as human trafficking, drug peddling and gun running.
The country was described as both a destination and trans-shipment point for Afghan heroin that arrived via sea routes, air routes or overland routes. The heroin trade was controlled by organised criminal groups, the report added.
“Border, customs and police officials were reportedly involved in facilitating the distribution of the drug and transit through the country,” the report said.
In terms of cocaine, the amounts consumed and trafficked have grown significantly among the country’s population, the GOCI disclosed.
The 188-page report noted that South Africa was a destination country for human trafficking.
“Traffickers are known to recruit people from the poorer rural areas to urban centres of the country, where they are then forced into domestic servitude, sex trafficking and other forms of forced labour,” the report said.
It said a major corruption market in the country was associated with the movement of foreign nationals.
This was predominately related to paperwork and the process of crossing borders with a bribe – instead of a passport, the GOCI said.
Another criminal activity, the report noted, was that South Africa had a significant flow of arms, and that these firearms were overwhelmingly used by criminals to intimidate, injure or kill people.
NM/jn/APA