Drug trafficking is gaining ground in the Sahel, a vast territory in Africa which is overwhelmingly under-policed.
“Cocaine, cannabis resin and pharmaceutical opioids” are the most widespread, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
In a report entitled “Drug Trafficking in the Sahel: Assessing the Threat of Transnational Organised Crime,” published on Friday, the Vienna, Austria-based organisation says that cannabis herb is the most commonly seized psychotropic drug in the Sahel, in terms of quantity.
Locally grown mainly for regional consumption, Indian hemp is also “the main substance for which people seek treatment” in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Mauritania and Chad, says the report as seen by APA.
It also emerges from ONUDC’s investigative work that West Africa is at the heart of the new cocaine circuits: “Its geographical location makes it a natural staging post for this hard drug produced in South America on its way to Europe, one of the biggest markets for cocaine consumption after North America. Against a backdrop of increasing production in South America and growing demand in Europe, the flow of cocaine through West Africa has intensified. The re-emergence of large cocaine seizures since 2019 suggests an increase in significant
shipments of the drug to West African coastal countries.”
While the majority of white powder reaching West Africa generally continues its route to North Africa and Europe via sea routes, a growing number of record cocaine seizures involving Sahel countries have provided evidence of large-scale trafficking across the region.
“From an average of 13 kg per year over the period 2015-2020, the amount of cocaine seized in the Sahel has risen to 41 kg in 2021 and 1466 kg in 2022, with the bulk being reported by Burkina, Mali and Niger,” states the ONUDC report.
Cannabis still a draw
Because of its affordable price, Indian hemp is highly prized by drug addicts the world over. Its resin is the second most seized drug in Sahelian countries, after cannabis herb, with 24.8 tonnes seized between 2021 and 2022. This represents more than 52.6 percent of the total quantity of cannabis resin seized in West and Central Africa over the same period. This exponential increase illustrates the importance of the Sahel route for trafficking this prohibited substance.
“According to data from the Sahel countries, the cannabis resin trafficked in the region generally comes from Morocco, where an increase in production has been reported to the tune of around 901 tonnes in 2022. It is generally destined for Western and Northern European countries. In addition to the direct route between Spain and Morocco, cannabis resin is mainly transported by land from Morocco to Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad, then on to Algeria, Libya and Egypt,” explains ONUDC.
According to the source, there is also an alternative sea route from Morocco to the Gulf of Guinea.
“The reconfiguration of cannabis resin trafficking routes in West Africa is likely to have an effect on drug
distribution networks operating between North Africa, the Gulf of Guinea and the Sahel. For example, Moroccan drug traffickers are likely to become less dependent on Malian organised crime groups, while Gulf of Guinea traffickers are likely to be increasingly exposed to cannabis resin. This will enable them to diversify their trade and
the markets to which they have access,” the study says.
Opioid use on the rise
These are drugs with analgesic properties that relieve pain. But opioids, which can produce a feeling of euphoria, are also used by people in search of meaning.
“Between 2011 and 2021, the annual prevalence of opioid use (including opiates) rose from 0.33 percent to 1.24 percent in Africa. The non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids appears to have increased considerably, from just two countries (Niger and Togo), citing tramadol as the main drug of concern for people entering treatment for drug dependence in 2017, to five countries (Burkina, Liberia, Mali, Niger and Sierra Leone) in 2019,” the report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime explains.
According to public health experts, the misuse of tramadol remains a threat in North, West and Central Africa. It is “the most widely used opioid for non-medical purposes in Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo,” the source adds.
Historically, South Asia in general, and India in particular, was one of the main sources of tramadol. “With its main commercial seaports and routes to and through the Sahel countries, West Africa has become a main destination for pharmaceutical opioids, including tramadol, as well as a transit zone for other medicines destined for North and Central Africa,” announces ONUDC announces.
Over the five-year period 2017-2021, Africa accounted for half of the total amount of pharmaceutical opioids seized worldwide and 97 percent of the tramadol seized on the planet in 2021. “Some of the tramadol
unloaded in West African seaports, mainly in Benin, Nigeria and Togo, is transported to Sahelian countries by bus, truck and motorbike, on both main and secondary roads,” the report states.
Corruption, a contributing factor
In the Sahel, the phenomenon “can include members of the political elite as well as leaders of armed groups and community leaders. Recent seizures, arrests and detentions in countries in the region have highlighted the way in which drug trafficking is facilitated by a wide range of individuals, such as politicians, members of the defence and security forces, and members of the judiciary, particularly when they circumvent controls and avoid arrest and legal proceedings,” UNODC adds ruefully.
In West Africa, it continues, “traffickers use the region to conceal the proceeds of their crime, in particular through trade-based money laundering. This practice makes financial transactions harder to track while creating additional revenue opportunities, giving traffickers greater economic leverage and a veneer of legitimacy. Drug traffickers
tend to invest their illicit income in growth sectors such as gold and real estate, relying on the cash-based informal economy.”
Drugs, because of their higher commercial value, have been used to challenge traditional power structures within and between communities living in the Sahel, leading to the emergence of powerful traffickers.
“While there is overwhelming evidence of the continued involvement of armed groups, there appears to be less evidence that violent extremist armed movements, such as the Al-Qaida-affiliated ‘Groupe de Soutien à l’Islam et aux Musulmans’ (Support Group for Islam and Muslims, GSIM or JNIM in Arabic) or the Islamic State in the Great Sahara (now Islamic State in the Sahel), affiliated to the Islamic State, play an active role in drug trafficking.”
However, UNODC notes that this does not mean that these groups are not involved: “Evidence of their involvement could yet emerge. And violent extremist armed groups are likely to benefit indirectly from drug
trafficking, for example through the payment by traffickers of zakat, a form of wealth tax imposed by the GSIM and EIGS in the areas where they operate, or by taxing convoys passing through areas under their control.”
For the UN office, corruption and the perception that drug traffickers, particularly members of armed groups and individuals sanctioned by the UN Security Council, carry out their criminal activities with relative impunity, undermine the credibility and legitimacy of state institutions, as well as electoral processes.
Link between drug trafficking and terrorism
The question of the sources of funding for jihadist groups is an inexhaustible subject in the Sahel, where “organised crime and drug trafficking contribute to undermining stability and development.” As in other conflict-ridden regions of the world, “the drug economy and instability in the Sahel are linked by a vicious circle in which the weakness of the rule of law facilitates the expansion of the drug economy, which in turn can provide financial resources to maintain or expand conflict, while undermining the State’s response,” the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime notes.
In fact, it says, drug trafficking provides financial resources to armed groups operating in the Sahel, in particular the Algiers Platform of 14 June 2014 movements and the ‘Coordination des Mouvements de l’Azawad’ (Coordination of Azawad Movements, CMA) in Mali, enabling them to perpetuate their involvement in the conflict, including through the purchase of arms.
“Competition over drug trafficking routes in the Sahel and the interception of drug convoys by rival armed groups have led to violent clashes and reprisals, resulting in many deaths and injuries among these groups and perpetuating the cycle of violence. Drug trafficking, which undermines the economic development of Sahelian countries, has a direct and growing impact on the health of populations as local drug markets develop,” the UNODC report concludes.
ID/ac/fss/as/APA