West Africa is now the primary transit point for cocaine and other drugs trafficked from South America to Europe and North America. Recent developments show that West African criminal networks are taking control of an ever more sophisticated system to smuggle cocaine into the rich market of the North.Cocaine, synthetics, and increasing amounts of heroin are now transiting Africa where a percentage (tax,toll,payment) stays to satisfy the local market,while the remainder is moved to final destinations in Europe and North America.
Just a decade ago, the North American market for cocaine was four times larger than that of Europe, but now we are witnessing a complete rebalancing. Today the estimated value of the
European cocaine market ($65-billion) is almost equivalent to that of the North American market ($70-billion), it has simply experienced a geographical shift in supply and demand.
Africa now occupies second position worldwide in the trafficking and consumption of illegal drugs.According to UN statistics 37,000 people in Africa die annually from diseases associated with the consumption of illegal drugs. The UN estimates there are 28 million drug users in Africa, the figure for the United States and Canada is 32 million.There are an estimated 1.5 million of coke users in West Africa alone.
According to the United Nations, of the 35 tonnes of cocaine estimated to have reached West Africa in 2009, only 21 tonnes continued on to Europe, meaning the remainder was probably sold and consumed locally in Africa. The UN agency said as much as 400 kilograms (880 pounds) of heroin have been consumed in West Africa in 2011 so far.
Now the epicentre of an expanding West African cocaine trade, Guinea-Bissau is confronting an entirely new problem that threatens disaster for its fragile health, law enforcement and justice systems - a burgeoning population of home-grown crack addicts.
Europe is Providing the Demand for this Trade
A recent article published by the London Sunday Telegraph calculated that so much cocaine is being used in London that traces of the white powder can be detected in the River Thames. Citing scientific research that it had commissioned, it said an estimated 2kg of cocaine, or 80 000 lines, spill into the river every day after passing through users’ bodies and sewage treatment plants. It extrapolated that 150 000 lines of the illegal drug are snorted in the London alone every single day, or 15 times higher than the official figure given by the Home Office.
Europeans belong to the largest consumers of illicit drugs, absorbing about one fifth of the global heroin, cocaine and cannabis supply, as well as one third of ecstasy production (UNODC World Drug report, 2008). In the last ten years trafficking in the area has boomed.
The United Nations estimates that 60 -250 tons of cocaine transits West Africa each year. That's a street value of between $120 - $500 billion. 13% of the world’s cocaine.
This European appetite for drugs has a direct impact on people in places like Guinea-Bissau, one of the poorest countries in the world and one of the smallest, with a population of just 1.6 million, the drug now permeates the entire nation, from the military and political elites, who facilitate its passage, to the poorest and most vulnerable, who are developing a rising
addiction. Nowadays crack cocaine can be found almost anywhere in the country, even in remote villages.
Large cocaine shipments arrive in West Africa to be broken down into smaller quantities before being smuggled onwards. But some of the drug remains in the country, where it is refined into cheap crack cocaine that feeds a growing number of addictions. According to UN
statistics 37,000 people in Africa die annually from diseases associated with the consumption of illegal drugs. There are an estimated 1.5 million of coke users in West Africa. The UN estimates there are 28 million drug users in Africa, the figure for the United States and Canada is 32 million.
As smuggling activity has increased, there's been a spillover effect. According to the United Nations' 2012 World Drug Report,
"increasing trafficking of cocaine through the coastal countries of West Africa is leading to an increase in cocaine use… with cocaine use possibly emerging alongside heroin use as a major problem".
African Crack Epidemic
Political risk assessment experts are predicting that West Africa could soon face a crack epidemic similar to those that have ravaged US cities between 1984-1990 and the current crack epidemic in Brazil. [According to the United Nations], of the 35 tonnes of cocaine
estimated to have reached West Africa in 2009, only 21 tonnes continued on to Europe, meaning the remainder was probably sold and consumed locally in Africa.West Africa, one of the world’s most deprived areas, is being plunged further into violence crime and addiction.
In Sierra Leone, the only certified psychiatrist in the country, Dr Nahim estimated that 80 percent of the patients he sees are suffering from "drug-induced psychotic disorders".
The African Networks that previously earned cuts by providing mules for Latin American cartels are also cooking up their own slice of the global drug pie. Their narcotic of choice is methamphetamine, a highly profitable powder concocted using readily available and legal
ingredients.
Four large-scale crystal meth labs have been discovered in Nigeria. Shipments of precursor chemicals have been seized in neighbouring Benin and Togo and in Guinea officials discovered huge vats used to cook MDMA, a similar synthetic drug.
The situation in West Africa is particularly alarming. There is no prevention, no rehabilitation. The issue is so new that there is no data available. It’s impossible to say how many people are lost in crack and methamphetamine addiction. And mostly, there is no consciousness among the people about the long-term effects of this plague.
Just a decade ago, the North American market for cocaine was four times larger than that of Europe, but now we are witnessing a complete rebalancing. Today the estimated value of the
European cocaine market ($65-billion) is almost equivalent to that of the North American market ($70-billion), it has simply experienced a geographical shift in supply and demand.
Africa now occupies second position worldwide in the trafficking and consumption of illegal drugs.According to UN statistics 37,000 people in Africa die annually from diseases associated with the consumption of illegal drugs. The UN estimates there are 28 million drug users in Africa, the figure for the United States and Canada is 32 million.There are an estimated 1.5 million of coke users in West Africa alone.
According to the United Nations, of the 35 tonnes of cocaine estimated to have reached West Africa in 2009, only 21 tonnes continued on to Europe, meaning the remainder was probably sold and consumed locally in Africa. The UN agency said as much as 400 kilograms (880 pounds) of heroin have been consumed in West Africa in 2011 so far.
Now the epicentre of an expanding West African cocaine trade, Guinea-Bissau is confronting an entirely new problem that threatens disaster for its fragile health, law enforcement and justice systems - a burgeoning population of home-grown crack addicts.
Europe is Providing the Demand for this Trade
A recent article published by the London Sunday Telegraph calculated that so much cocaine is being used in London that traces of the white powder can be detected in the River Thames. Citing scientific research that it had commissioned, it said an estimated 2kg of cocaine, or 80 000 lines, spill into the river every day after passing through users’ bodies and sewage treatment plants. It extrapolated that 150 000 lines of the illegal drug are snorted in the London alone every single day, or 15 times higher than the official figure given by the Home Office.
Europeans belong to the largest consumers of illicit drugs, absorbing about one fifth of the global heroin, cocaine and cannabis supply, as well as one third of ecstasy production (UNODC World Drug report, 2008). In the last ten years trafficking in the area has boomed.
The United Nations estimates that 60 -250 tons of cocaine transits West Africa each year. That's a street value of between $120 - $500 billion. 13% of the world’s cocaine.
This European appetite for drugs has a direct impact on people in places like Guinea-Bissau, one of the poorest countries in the world and one of the smallest, with a population of just 1.6 million, the drug now permeates the entire nation, from the military and political elites, who facilitate its passage, to the poorest and most vulnerable, who are developing a rising
addiction. Nowadays crack cocaine can be found almost anywhere in the country, even in remote villages.
Large cocaine shipments arrive in West Africa to be broken down into smaller quantities before being smuggled onwards. But some of the drug remains in the country, where it is refined into cheap crack cocaine that feeds a growing number of addictions. According to UN
statistics 37,000 people in Africa die annually from diseases associated with the consumption of illegal drugs. There are an estimated 1.5 million of coke users in West Africa. The UN estimates there are 28 million drug users in Africa, the figure for the United States and Canada is 32 million.
As smuggling activity has increased, there's been a spillover effect. According to the United Nations' 2012 World Drug Report,
"increasing trafficking of cocaine through the coastal countries of West Africa is leading to an increase in cocaine use… with cocaine use possibly emerging alongside heroin use as a major problem".
African Crack Epidemic
Political risk assessment experts are predicting that West Africa could soon face a crack epidemic similar to those that have ravaged US cities between 1984-1990 and the current crack epidemic in Brazil. [According to the United Nations], of the 35 tonnes of cocaine
estimated to have reached West Africa in 2009, only 21 tonnes continued on to Europe, meaning the remainder was probably sold and consumed locally in Africa.West Africa, one of the world’s most deprived areas, is being plunged further into violence crime and addiction.
In Sierra Leone, the only certified psychiatrist in the country, Dr Nahim estimated that 80 percent of the patients he sees are suffering from "drug-induced psychotic disorders".
The African Networks that previously earned cuts by providing mules for Latin American cartels are also cooking up their own slice of the global drug pie. Their narcotic of choice is methamphetamine, a highly profitable powder concocted using readily available and legal
ingredients.
Four large-scale crystal meth labs have been discovered in Nigeria. Shipments of precursor chemicals have been seized in neighbouring Benin and Togo and in Guinea officials discovered huge vats used to cook MDMA, a similar synthetic drug.
The situation in West Africa is particularly alarming. There is no prevention, no rehabilitation. The issue is so new that there is no data available. It’s impossible to say how many people are lost in crack and methamphetamine addiction. And mostly, there is no consciousness among the people about the long-term effects of this plague.
