According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), an
estimated 50 tons of cocaine are trafficked through West Africa annually,
while significant volumes of heroin are also believed to be in transit.
Traffickers benefit from weak governance, less sophisticated surveillance and
law enforcement capacity, and underdeveloped border controls.
West Africa was identified as a key cocaine transit route some years ago, with
then UNODC head, Antonio Maria Costa, describing Guinea Bissau as under “attack”
from cocaine traffickers in 2007.
In 2011, the UNODC drew attention to the emergence of East Africa as a heroin
trafficking hub, with traffickers increasingly bringing Afghan heroin into
East Africa from Pakistan for onward transportation to Europe.
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