Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 6th May. According to a new report from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime on Sunday stated that cocaine, cannabis and opioids are getting easier to buy as criminal networks and armed groups capitalize on the fragile Sahel region’s “natural stopover point” to Europe on trafficking routes from South America, but authorities with help from the UN are taking down criminal networks and making a record number of seizures of illicit drugs.
UNODC report is part of a series exploring trafficking in the Sahel, focuses on the illicit drug trade.
The agency’s report said drug trafficking in the Sahel continues to hinder security, economic development and the rule of law while jeopardized public health.
Amado Philip de Andres, who heads the agency’s West and Central Africa regional office said “Drug trafficking is well-established in the Sahel region – with detrimental consequences both locally and globally”.
“Increased drug flows to West Africa and the Sahel undermine peace and stability in the region,” he said.
“This is not only a security issue as armed groups are deriving revenue to finance their operations, it is also a public health issue as criminal groups tap into population growth to expand illicit drug markets.”
The agency noted that in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger cannabis resin remains the internationally trafficked drug most commonly seized, followed by cocaine and pharmaceutical opioids.
The seizures of cocaine skyrocketed in the Sahel in 2022, from an average of 13 kg per year seized between 2015 and 2020 to 1,466 kg in 2022.
UNODC assessments said this suggests the presence of large-scale cocaine trafficking through the region.
The annual estimates were not available for 2023, by mid-year, 2.3 tons of cocaine had already been seized in Mauritania, UNODC said.
The new report said that the region’s geographical location makes it a “natural stopover point” for the increasing amount of cocaine produced in South America en route to Europe, which has seen a similar rise in demand for the drug.
The drug economy and instability in the Sahel are linked through a “vicious cycle”, the report noted.
The weak rule of law is facilitating the expansion of the drug economy. That can, in turn, provide financial resources for maintaining or expanding conflicts, which then continue to weaken the rule of law.
The new report found that drug trafficking continues to provide financial resources to armed groups in the region, including Plateforme des mouvements du 14 juin 2014 d’Alger (Plateforme) in Algeria and Coordination des Mouvements de l’Azawad in Mali, enabling them to sustain their involvement in conflict, notably through the purchase of weapons.
The report found that traffickers are using money-laundering to disguise their illicit proceeds in a growing number of sectors, from gold to real estate. That makes financial transactions more difficult to track while giving traffickers greater economic leverage and “a veneer of legitimacy”.
The report stated that corruption and money laundering are “major enablers” of drug trafficking.
It noted that seizures, arrests, and detentions in the Sahel region reveal how drug trafficking is facilitated by a wide range of individuals, which can include members of the political elite, community leaders and heads of armed groups.
According to UNODC, traffickers have used their income to penetrate different layers of the State, allowing them to effectively avoid prosecution.
The report highlighted the evidence of the continued involvement of armed groups in drug trafficking in the region, and found that terrorist organization affiliates are likely to benefit indirectly through exacting zakat, a form of wealth tax, from traffickers and taxing convoys that cross areas under their control.
It stressed that combating terrorist groups operating in the Sahel was in the spotlight at the High-Level African Counter-Terrorism meeting, held in Abuja in late April.
It raised concerns by Heads of State across the region were the increasing links between terrorism and organized crime.
UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed described the situation in the Sahel, as dire, noted that the region now accounts for almost half of all deaths from terrorism globally.
“A major factor that has fuelled the rise in insurgency in the Sahel is organized crime, the proliferation and smuggling of firearms across our porous borders,” she said.
“The availability of weapons empowers terrorist groups, often better equipped with the latest technology.”
UN counter-terrorism chief Vladimir Voronkov warned that Da’esh, Al-Qaida and their affiliates have made some significant gains in the Sahel and are moving southward to the Gulf of Guinea.
“We recognize that no single actor can resolve today’s threats to peace and security alone,” he said.
He added “Instead, we need multiple actors working together, with solutions grounded in strong national ownership and supported by funding partners.”
A “step change” in commitments to address those complex challenges came with the launch of the UN Joint Appeal for Counter-Terrorism in Africa, he said.
He said that there are 16 UN entities in support of 10 new multi partner initiatives across the continent to tackle such critical areas as border management and countering terrorism travel on the continent and the nexus between terrorism and organized crime.
According to UNODC, local and regional actors continue to join forces to combat the illegal drug trade in the Sahel.
Leonardo Santos Simão, the UN Special Representative for West Africa and the Sahel said that the UNODC new report should serve as a “wake-up call”.
“States in the Sahel region with the international community must take urgent, coordinated and comprehensive action to dismantle drug trafficking networks and give the people in these countries the future they deserve,” he added.
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