A RECENT UN report unveiled alarming trends of escalating drug seizures in the West African Sahel region, highlighting the area’s growing significance as a key route for drug trafficking. Released on Friday by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the report underscores the profound implications of this illicit trade on regional stability and global health.
The figures revealed a stark rise in cocaine seizures within the Sahel countries of Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso, and Niger. In 2022 alone, authorities seized 1,466 kilograms (3,232 pounds) of cocaine across these nations, a staggering increase compared to the average of just 13 kilograms (28.7 pounds) seized annually between 2013 and 2020.
Amid this surge, Senegal, which borders the Sahel region, made headlines with a record-breaking cocaine seizure of 1,137 kilograms valued at $146 million. This seizure near an artisanal mine in eastern Senegal represents the largest-ever cocaine interception on land, reflecting a troubling escalation in drug trafficking activities.
According to Amado Philip de Andrés, the UNODC Regional Representative in West and Central Africa, ‘The location of the Sahel as a strategic transit point makes it vulnerable to the increasing flow of cocaine from South America destined for Europe. This trafficking has profound local and global impacts on peace and health.’
Furthermore, drug trafficking serves as a financial lifeline for various armed groups operating in the Sahel, perpetuating instability and conflict in the region. Andrés emphasised, ‘The involvement of armed groups in drug trafficking undermines peace and stability, sustaining conflict dynamics through the purchase of weapons.’
Lucia Bird, director of the West Africa Observatory of illicit economies at the Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime, highlighted emerging trends linked to increased trafficking networks. ‘We’ve observed rising crack cocaine consumption in Agadez, Niger, fuelled by local payments in kind,’ Bird explained, shedding light on the evolving dynamics of drug consumption within the region.
The UN report also exposed the intricate web of corruption and money laundering enabling drug trafficking in the Sahel. Recent seizures and arrests implicated political elites, community leaders, and armed group commanders in facilitating this illicit trade.
Leonardo Santos Simão, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for West Africa, urged urgent and coordinated action to dismantle drug trafficking networks. ‘States in the Sahel region, alongside the international community, must take comprehensive steps to address this pressing challenge,’ Simão said, underscoring the imperative of collaborative efforts to combat drug-related destabilisation in the region.