This paper discusses how drug trafficking in West Africa causes severe economic, social, political and public health problems across the whole region. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has reported that almost 400 kg of heroin was trafficked through West Africa in 2011, and cocaine trafficking alone generates some US$ 900 million annually for criminal networks in West and Central Africa.⁽²⁾ In affected West African countries, profits from drug trafficking are used to destabilise states, and also threaten both development and stability. West Africa is very attractive as a logistical transit centre for drug traffickers due to its inadequate law enforcement mechanisms, poor economic and social conditions and weak rule of law, as well as anti-drug capacities. The rise in illicit narcotics trafficking is fast becoming a mighty adversary to the pursuit of peace, stability and security in West Africa.

The expanding influence and capability of West African criminal organisations

West Africa has become a central trafficking hub for illicit narcotics due to its endemic corruption, poverty and disorganisation.⁽³⁾ Illicit narcotics, such as cocaine and heroin, have been trafficked through the region for more than a decade and are negatively affecting political, social and economic dynamics throughout the region. Latin American criminal organisations were once primarily responsible for moving illicit narcotics through West Africa but there is now evidence indicating that West African criminal organisations are becoming increasingly involved in moving shipments on to Europe.⁽⁴⁾

Trafficking of illicit narcotics from Latin America to West Africa and onwards to Europe has increased significantly and nearly 50% of all non-United States (US) bound cocaine, or about 13% of the entire global flow, is now trafficked through West Africa.⁽⁵⁾ The exact nature of the relationship between Latin American and West African criminal organisations is not clear, but what is known is that due to tough counter-drugs measures taken in other regions of the world, traffickers sought out new routes through West Africa.⁽⁶⁾ Latin American criminal organisations started routeing cocaine shipments destined for Europe through airports in the Sahel, while other routes led through northern Mali to Morocco, Algeria and Niger into Europe or the Middle East.⁽⁷⁾ The Latin American-West African collaboration increased significantly during the 2000s. Logistically West Africa is the ideal choice for a transit centre for illicit narcotics traffickers, since, as the West Africa Commission on the Impact of Drugs on Governance, Security and Development (WACD) points out, “its geography makes detection difficult and facilitates transit; the region boasts well-established networks of West African smugglers and crime syndicates; and a vulnerable political environment creates opportunities for operation.”⁽⁸⁾

West Africa is not only a transit route for narcotics from South America, but is also a source of illegal drugs. Most aspects of the cocaine trade in particular are still dominated by Latin American criminal organisations, such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), but illicit narcotics are now being manufactured in West Africa and local trafficking networks are expanding their own narcotics transport and distribution systems, pushing out the Latin Americans.⁽⁹⁾ According to a 2012 report by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Centre on International Cooperation, the Kofi Annan Foundation and the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, “West African criminal organisations operate cells worldwide to facilitate the supply of goods, with diaspora communities playing important roles.”⁽¹⁰⁾ As the Latin American criminal organisations’ influence decreases, more of the revenues from the drug trade stay in West Africa, and reports suggest that the profits from trafficked drugs in some West African countries now exceed the gross national income.⁽¹¹⁾

West African criminal organisations entered the trade of illicit narcotics by providing mules for Latin American criminal organisations, but are now moving towards controlling the whole process, from production of illicit narcotics to distribution. Processing equipment for cocaine and ecstasy has been seized in the region.⁽¹²⁾ However, the narcotic of choice for gaining control of the trade is methamphetamine, which is highly profitable and manufactured using easily obtainable legal ingredients,⁽¹³⁾ such as the organic compound ephedrine, which is used in decongestants and is loosely regulated in West Africa and difficult to track.⁽¹⁴⁾ There is evidence of large-scale methamphetamine production in Nigeria particularly.⁽¹⁵⁾ UNODC warns that the production of methamphetamine is a “growing concern” for West Africa ⁽¹⁶⁾ and “this is the next niche for criminal groups in West Africa because you can easily cook it at home, and you can easily adjust it for supply and demand. It is slowly but surely spreading in the region.”⁽¹⁷⁾ There are several indications of such developments as reports suggest that Mexican criminal organisations are providing, at the very least, advisors and possibly chemists who assist with the manufacture of methamphetamine.⁽¹⁸⁾

Illicit narcotics trafficking in West Africa mostly occurs in weak states where social and political structures have collapsed to the point where the government has little or no control. Traffickers have found the failed states of West Africa perfect transit hubs for their products.⁽¹⁹⁾ In West Africa, failed states have seen civil wars, insurgency operations, and coups that led to diminishing human capital, weakening social infrastructure and wearying productive national development assets. These states suffer from endemic poverty as well as weak institutions and systems; instability; and poorly equipped and corruptible politicians, law enforcement and intelligence officers and judicial authorities.⁽²⁰⁾ In such states criminal organisations often enjoy complete freedom of movement as well as freedom of action and, like criminal groups elsewhere, they infiltrate political structures or threaten political elites and discouraged public servants in order to safeguard and expand their operations.⁽²¹⁾ Among the many security threats posed by organised criminal networks, the one of greatest concern at present is the ability of criminal networks to “infiltrate security and government agencies, transform or influence the motivations of its members, reorient objectives towards the spoils of drugs trafficking activity thus influencing questions of state legitimacy and the legitimacy of democratic processes.”⁽²²⁾

The link between drug trafficking and insurgency

It is difficult to distinguish between criminals and insurgents in that both finance their activities primarily through illegal means, but reports suggest that West African organised criminal networks are collaborating with insurgency networks. Drug trafficking is considered by international organisations such as the UNODC and the International Narcotics Control Board as a major factor in West Africa’s instability.⁽²³⁾ However, it must be noted that beyond Guinea Bissau and northern Mali, there is still limited evidence linking drugs and political violence in West Africa,⁽²⁴⁾ and there is still scant evidence linking illicit narcotics trafficking and an active insurgency anywhere other than in Mali.⁽²⁵⁾

There is a widespread perception among Malians that elected officials and security personnel, together with insurgency groups,⁽²⁶⁾ are involved in the trade of illicit narcotics, which contributed to the breakdown of Malian state structures.⁽²⁷⁾ The trade in illicit narcotics has for a long time been an integrated part of the Malian state, and recent developments in Mali highlight the extent to which illicit narcotics trafficking and other forms of organised criminal activity can be taken advantage of to finance the activities of some of insurgency groups, which, over time, have come to “wield decisive political and military influence.”⁽²⁸⁾

When the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), the predecessor to Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), established itself in northern Mali, it developed links to various illicit businesses, such as taxing hashish, cannabis resin, and cocaine pipelines.⁽²⁹⁾ France-based research group, Sahel Intelligence, has reported that AQIM members met with representatives for Latin American criminal organisations,⁽³⁰⁾ and several research groups have reported that criminal networks have cooperated with insurgency networks, such as the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO); Ansar Dine; the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA); and AQIM, which partially funded its activities in northern Mali through profits from drug trafficking.⁽³¹⁾

Over the last few years, different insurgent networks operating in northern Mali have been responsible for perpetrating drug-related violence, much of which appears to have originated in rivalries between different insurgent and criminal networks involved in the drug trade, allegedly contributing to the instability that led to the French intervention in January 2013.⁽³²⁾ Former United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, verified this when he said that drug traffickers have links to insurgency networks in the region which are undermining regional stability through threats to seize power in Mali and other parts of the Sahel.⁽³³⁾ The most common trafficking route is from Guinea-Bissau to Mali and Niger and onward to Libya and Egypt, passing areas controlled by AQIM and MUJAO.⁽³⁴⁾ These groups reportedly extract tolls from drug convoys that transit through their territory and will, for a price, also supply protection.⁽³⁵⁾

Elected officials’ participation in drug trafficking

The trade in illicit narcotics exacerbates the chronic poverty in many West African states as it disrupts effective economic governance and, as Kofi Anan has pointed out, “compromises the encouraging progress that West African nations have made in strengthening democracy and promoting human and economic development.”⁽³⁶⁾ Evidently the trade in illicit narcotics empowers criminal organisations as well as undermines governance, weakens state institutions, and perverts the criminal justice system through the bribing of prosecutors, police officers, and judges.⁽³⁷⁾ The ability of drug trafficking to reshape relational dynamics between and among political and security actors, the citizenry, and the business community across the region makes the question of who elected officials are beholden to a matter of great importance.⁽³⁸⁾ The trafficking in illicit narcotics has earned criminal organisations and individuals fortunes, which are then often turned into political power and influence. Criminal organisations involved in the trade of illicit narcotics do not only undermine governments, they also use illicit money to buy, and in some cases seize, political and economic power and then exercise such power solely for their own benefit.⁽³⁹⁾

Transnational drug trafficking organisations, especially Latin American criminal organisations, have forged alliances with West African high level elected officials and security personnel. The most noticeable example of a country in which such alliances are commonplace is Guinea-Bissau, which is labelled the world's only true narcostate by the UNODC: “In Afghanistan and Colombia, individual provinces are in the hands of drug lords. Here, it's the entire state.”⁽⁴⁰⁾ The collaboration between elected senior government officials, security personnel and transnational criminal organisations has led to political and military upheaval and a series of assassinations, arrests and political incidents in the country in recent years which are believed to be directly linked to struggles over control of trafficking.⁽⁴¹⁾ Key members of the military have been named as complicit in the trade, and “the infusion of illicit cash has emboldened an already bloated army, and fuelled several coups.”⁽⁴²⁾ The infiltration and potential weakening of military, police, and customs and border agencies by criminal organisations in countries across West Africa ⁽⁴³⁾ is equally alarming as it “presents a serious and growing threat to the region's stability and development.”⁽⁴⁴⁾

ECOWAS has acknowledged that, “drug trafficking is an enemy of the state and the rule of law, existing as a parallel power that rivals the legal system and [they] are compelled to fight it.”⁽⁴⁵⁾ However, this may be easier said than done. One problem is the insufficient cooperation between the countries in the region, which is crucial to counter cross-border threats such as organised crime. Several transnational organisations have, mostly unsuccessfully, tried to introduce anti-drug trafficking programmes. The African Union (AU) has developed a revised policy on drug control seeking to “strengthen continental and transnational cooperation and further integrate drug control issues into national legal and institutional frameworks.”⁽⁴⁶⁾ ECOWAS has also set up several programmes to finance drug control activities in West Africa, but with very limited success.⁽⁴⁷⁾ A major new initiative to help tackle the scourge of illegal drug trafficking in West Africa was unveiled in Accra, Ghana on 31 January 2013.  The West Africa Commission on the Impact of Drugs on Governance, Security and Development (WACD), established by the Kofi Annan Foundation in consultation with international and regional partners, national governments and civil society organisations, aims to “develop evidence based policy recommendations for political and civil society leaders on how to address drug trafficking;  mobilise public awareness and political commitment around the issue; and promote local and regional capacities to deal with drug trafficking.”⁽⁴⁸⁾

Due to the power of political office, many high level elected officials and security personnel involved in the drug trade are virtually untouchable. The fight against illicit narcotics trafficking at the local level is thus also almost impossible due to the huge discrepancy between the resources of police, customs officers and judges, and those of the traffickers.⁽⁴⁹⁾

Drug trafficking’s negative effect on West African societies

The trade in illicit narcotics affect any society negatively, and apart from the damaging effects of drug use on people, related offences such as corruption and money laundering also have a severe impact on the political development of the West African region.⁽⁵⁰⁾ The political consequences become evident as both formal and traditional leaders involved in drug trafficking bolster their legitimacy through reinvestment of drug-related proceeds in the community.⁽⁵¹⁾ This provides them with significant social and political capital as well as much needed support from the public and the ability to provide services in areas where the government is largely absent.⁽⁵²⁾ Traffickers’ investment in communities has a profound impact at the local level as citizens seek to sustain themselves in the face of limited government resources and the absence of government services.⁽⁵³⁾ Even though they invest their ill-gotten gains in local committees, which may be welcomed by citizens, the actions of these criminal elements nevertheless undermine the government, thus sowing the seeds of instability.

It is not only the broader political development of the region that is being affected. West Africa is no longer just a transit route for illicit narcotics but also a final destination ⁽⁵⁴⁾ and, to a lesser degree, a producer of narcotics and increasing numbers of West Africans are starting to use the drugs. Former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, stated that “we have ceased to be just transit zone. We have become manufacturing zone and consuming zone.”⁽⁵⁵⁾ This has given rise to a major public health problem. UNODC reported in 2012 that there are up to 2.3 million cocaine users in West and Central Africa, while methamphetamine and heroin use continues to rise.⁽⁵⁶⁾ “The evidence points to a growing problem of dependency that needs urgent attention in our region,” Obasanjo said.⁽⁵⁷⁾

Dependency is a problem that will be difficult to solve as, according to the WACD, the “treatment for drug addiction across West Africa is generally under-resourced and under-funded, with institutions ill-prepared to deal with rising levels of dependency, and potential spill overs such as increases in HIV-AIDS.”⁽⁵⁸⁾ Health facilities across the region are either non-existent or under-equipped, with staff untrained to deal with the consequences of drug dependency, due to lack of adequate training. Human rights organisations have criticised many psychiatric facilities for overcrowding and unsanitary conditions and inhumane and degrading treatment of patients.⁽⁵⁹⁾

Concluding remarks

Drug trafficking is a major threat to regional peace, stability and security in West Africa as it is causing economic, social, political and public health challenges across the whole region. West African criminal organisations are effectively exploiting the weak social and political structures in the region with the aim of expanding their operations and financial gains. They are influencing the governments and security forces to the extent that there are concerns of state legitimacy and the legitimacy of democratic processes. Insurgencies potentially linked to drug trafficking cause social and political destabilisation as well as violence and suffering.

In West Africa, the most significant insurgency networks are partially funding their anti-government activities through profits from drug trafficking, but most of the violence hails from the rivalry between networks involved in drug trafficking, as is evident in Mali. Elected senior government officials and security personnel in many West African countries are directly involved in drug trafficking and are beholden to criminal organisations instead of their constituencies. This undermines governance and weakens state institutions as well as reshapes relational dynamics, leading to the creation of narcostates such as in Guinea-Bissau. Furthermore, the impact on local politics has becomes evident as leaders strengthen their legitimacy through reinvestment of drug-related proceeds in the community. Drugs weaken societies, destroy people and have a severe impact on economic, social and political development. Drug dependency is fast becoming a major public health problem in West Africa, and lack of capabilities to deal with the consequences of drug dependency only compounds the problem.

It is clear that due to the threat it poses to security, stability and development in West Africa, drug trafficking is a problem of utmost concern that requires prompt and decisive action.  This requires both political will and regional collaboration. To mobilise political will in order to combat drug trafficking and transnational organised crime, it is imperative to remove corrupt government officials and security personnel with personal interests in the trade of illegal narcotics. In many cases this will require the major overhaul of justice systems. Furthermore, to counter cross-border threats such as transnational criminal organisations, regional cooperation is essential. It is important to recognise the difficulties for individual states to efficiently challenge transnational criminal organisations as governments lack both resources and juridical mandates for such complex operations. This is a regional problem and needs a regional solution. The launch of the West Africa Commission for Drugs is certainly a step in the right direction but the only way forward for West Africa regarding this issue is to increase regional collaboration and coordinate regional anti-drug trafficking operations.

Written by Alexander Holmgren (1)

NOTES:

(1) Contact Alexander Holmgren through Consultancy Africa Intelligence's Africa Watch Unit ( Africa.watch@consultancy.com). This CAI discussion paper was developed with the assistance of Claire Furphy and was edited by Nicky Berg.
(2) Aning, K. and Pokoo, J., ‘Drug trafficking and threats to national and regional security in West Africa’, WACD background paper No. 1’, 31 January 2013, www.wacommissionondrugs.org; Burke, L., ‘Kofi Anan tackles drug trafficking in West Africa’, Associated Press, 31 January 2012, http://bigstory.ap.org.
(3) Frintz, A., ‘Drugs: The new alternative economy of West Africa’, Le Monde diplomatique, February 2013, www.mondediplo.com.
(4) ‘West Africa: 2012 ATS Situation Report. A report from the Global SMART programme June 2012.’, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, www.unodc.org; Pachico, E., ‘LatAm drug traffickers losing ground in West Africa: UN’, InSight Crime, 26 February 2013, http://www.insightcrime.org..
(5) Asare-Kyei, A., ‘West Africa: Tackling drug trafficking in West Africa’, Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa, 15 February 2013, http://www.osisa.org.
(6) ‘West Africa: 2012 ATS Situation Report. A Report from the Global SMART Programme June 2012.’, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, www.unodc.org.
(7) Lebovich, A., ‘Mali’s bad trip: Field notes from the West African drug trade’, Foreign Policy, 16 March 2013, www.foreignpolicy.com.
(8) Aning, K. and Pokoo, J., ‘Drug trafficking and threats to national and regional security in West Africa: WACD background paper No. 1’, 31 January 2013, www.wacommissionondrugs.org.
(9) ‘The impact of organized crime and drug trafficking on governance, development & security in West Africa’, ECOWAS, the Center on International Cooperation, the Kofi Annan Foundation and the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, April 2012, http://kofiannanfoundation.org.
(10) ‘Mali a “wake-up call” for drug trafficking, says think tank’, IRIN, 5 February 2013, http://www.irinnews.org.
(11) Asare-Kyei, A., ‘Tackling drug trafficking in West Africa’, Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa, 15 February 2013, http://www.osisa.org.
(12) Aning, K. and Pokoo, J., ‘Drug trafficking and threats to national and regional security in West Africa: WACD background paper No. 1’, 31 January 2013, www.wacommissionondrugs.org.
(13) Mark, M., ‘Homegrown crystal meth industry sparks west Africa crime wave’, The Guardian, 29 March 2013, www.guardian.co.uk.
(14) Beckhusen, R., ‘Out: Latin American drug cartels. In: African drug cartels’, Wired, 27 February 2013, www.wired.com.
(15) Mark, M., ‘Homegrown crystal meth industry sparks west Africa crime wave’, The Guardian, 29 March 2013, www.guardian.co.uk.
(16) Corey-Boulet, R., ‘Methamphetamine 'growing concern' for West Africa’, Voice of America, 25 February 2013, www.voanews.com.
(17) Mark, M., ‘Homegrown crystal meth industry sparks west Africa crime wave’, The Guardian, 29 March 2013, www.guardian.co.uk.
(18) ‘West Africa: 2012 ATS Situation Report. A report from the Global SMART programme June 2012.’, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, www.unodc.org
(19) Traub, J., ‘Think again: Failed states’, Foreign Policy, http://www.foreignpolicy.com.
(20) ‘The impact of organized crime and drug trafficking on governance, development & security in West Africa’, ECOWAS, the Center on International Cooperation, the Kofi Annan Foundation and the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, April 2012, http://kofiannanfoundation.org.
(21) ‘Mali a “wake-up call” for drug trafficking, says think tank’, IRIN, 5 February 2013, http://www.irinnews.org.
(22) Aning, K. and Pokoo, J., ‘Drug trafficking and threats to national and regional security in West Africa: WACD Background Paper No. 1’, 31 January 2013, www.wacommissionondrugs.org.
(23) Frintz, A., ‘Drugs: the new alternative economy of West Africa’, Le Monde diplomatique, February 2013, www.mondediplo.com.
(24) Aning K. and Pokoo J., ‘Drug trafficking and threats to national and regional security in West Africa: WACD Background Paper No. 1’, January 2013, www.wacommissionondrugs.org.
(25) Ibid.
(26) Lebovich, A., ‘Mali’s bad trip: Field notes from the West African drug trade’, Foreign Policy, 16 March 2013, www.foreignpolicy.com.
(27) ibid.
(28) Aning, K. and Pokoo, J., ‘Drug trafficking and threats to national and regional security in West Africa: WACD Background Paper No. 1’, 31 January 2013, www.wacommissionondrugs.org
(29) Lebovich, A., ‘Mali’s bad trip: Field notes from the West African drug trade’, Foreign Policy, 16 March 2013, www.foreignpolicy.com.
(30) ‘Mali a “wake-up call” for drug trafficking, says think tank’, IRIN, 5 February 2013, http://www.irinnews.org.
(31) Ibid.
(32) Aning, K. and Pokoo, J., ‘Drug trafficking and threats to national and regional security in West Africa: WACD Background Paper No. 1’, 31 January 2013, www.wacommissionondrugs.org
(33) Burke, L., ‘Kofi Annan tackles drug trafficking in West Africa’, Associated Press, 31 January 2013, http://bigstory.ap.org; ‘Mali a “wake-up call” for drug trafficking, says think tank’, IRIN, 5 February 2013, http://www.irinnews.org.
(34) ‘Blazing saddles in the Sahara: Extremists in north-west Africa finance themselves by trafficking cocaine’, The Economist, 22 September 2012, www.economist.com.
(35) Frintz, A., ‘Drugs: the new alternative economy of West Africa’, Le Monde diplomatique, February 2013, www.mondediplo.com.
(36) Burke, L., ‘Kofi Annan tackles drug trafficking in West Africa’, Associated Press, 31 January 2013, http://bigstory.ap.org.
(37) Asare-Kyei, A., ‘Finding a fix: The rise of drug trafficking and usage in West Africa’, Think Africa Press, 15 February 2013, www.thinkafricapress.com.
(38) Aning, K. and Pokoo, J., ‘Drug trafficking and threats to national and regional security in West Africa: WACD Background Paper No. 1’, 31 January 2013, www.wacommissionondrugs.org.
(39) Asare-Kyei, A., ‘Finding a fix: The rise of drug trafficking and usage in West Africa’, Think Africa Press, 15 February 2013, www.thinkafricapress.com.
(40) Smoltczyk, A., ‘Africa's cocaine hub: Guinea-Bissau a 'drug trafficker's dream'’, Der Spiegel, 8 March 2013, www.spiegel.de.
(41) Aning, K. and Pokoo, J., ‘Drug trafficking and threats to national and regional security in West Africa: WACD Background Paper No. 1’, 31 January 2013, www.wacommissionondrugs.org; Frintz, A., ‘Drugs: The new alternative economy of West Africa, Le Monde diplomatique, February 2013, www.mondediplo.com.
(42) Burke, L., ‘Kofi Annan tackles drug trafficking in West Africa’, Associated Press, 31 January 2013, http://bigstory.ap.org.
(43) Aning K. and Pokoo, J., ‘Drug trafficking and threats to national and regional security in West Africa: WACD Background Paper No. 1’, 31 January 2013, www.wacommissionondrugs.org.
(44) Burke, L., ‘Kofi Annan tackles drug trafficking in West Africa’, Associated Press, 31 January 2013, http://bigstory.ap.org.
(45) Aning, K. and Pokoo, J., ‘Drug trafficking and threats to national and regional security in West Africa: WACD Background Paper No. 1’, 31 January 2013, www.wacommissionondrugs.org.
(46) Ibid.
(47) Asare-Kyei, A., ‘Tackling drug trafficking in West Africa’, Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa, 15 February 2013, http://www.osisa.org.
(48) ‘Kofi Anan launches West Africa Commission on Drugs’, Kofi Anan Foundation, 31 January 2013, http://kofiannanfoundation.org.
(49) ‘The EU steps up its response to fight money laundering and drug trafficking in West Africa’, European Union, 18 March 2013, www.europa.eu; Frintz, A., ‘Drugs: The new alternative economy of West Africa, Le Monde diplomatique, February 2013, www.mondediplo.com.
(50) Ibid.
(51) Aning, K. and Pokoo, J., ‘Drug trafficking and threats to national and regional security in West Africa: WACD Background Paper No. 1’, 31 January 2013, www.wacommissionondrugs.org.
(52) Ibid.
(53) Ibid.
(54) Ibid.
(55) Burke, L., ‘Kofi Annan tackles drug trafficking in West Africa’, Associated Press, 31 January 2013, http://bigstory.ap.org.
(56) ‘Mali a “wake-up call” for drug trafficking, says think tank’, IRIN, 5 February 2013, http://www.irinnews.org.
(57) Ibid.
(58) Aning, K. and Pokoo, J., ‘Drug trafficking and threats to national and regional security in West Africa: WACD Background Paper No. 1’, 31 January 2013, www.wacommissionondrugs.org.
(59) Ibid.