| (2) Drug Trafficking into West Africa |
 |
 |
 |
| Newsflash | |||
|
(2) DRUGS TRAFFICKING into WEST AFRICA
Growing amounts of drugs are being trafficked through and into West Africa. If you care about the tragic iimpact drugs are having there, here are three topics you must know about and engage. First, a growing amount of the drugs coming from Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil into West Africa are being consumed locally. This is new, though not surprising: low prices and high supply of cocaine, particularly around the main entry points in Guinea-Bissau and Guinea-Conakry cause havoc among a youth, already so distraught by so many problems. Let’s not forget that mafias’ foot soldiers and petty traffickers are being paid in kind with the dope then retailed domestically. Namely, drug addiction is coming to Africa. Second, there are reports of drug use (as well as trafficking) affecting the military. This threatens more than the security sector reform. It creates armies of addicts: as developments in Conakry have shown, soldiers’ behaviour can get easily out of control. By the way, the disastrous consequences of addiction among the military have been experienced and addressed in other parts of the world – including in rich countries. The difference is that in Guinea-Bissau there are no drug treatment facilities. Namely, drug money is comin gto Africa. My third point is the most serious. Since July '10 in numerous West African sites were found large amounts of chemicals used in drug processing: to convert pasta basica into high grade cocaine, and chemical precursors to manufacture ecstasy (worth over $125 m). Namely, drug production is coming to Africa. I wish to discuss with you what is being done (not enough) and what (else) can be done to oppose this trend.
|
|||
| Last Updated on Wednesday, 26 January 2011 22:22 |
Popular
UNODC News
| Winds of Change in Turkmenistan |
Posted: 11 January 2008
Under its new President, Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedow, this once secretive country is opening up to the world. Since it is located along one of the biggest opium trafficking routes from Afghanistan to the West, Turkmenistan has been feeling the effects of drugs and crime along its borders. In my meetings with the President, it is clear that the winds of change are blowing in favour of greater regional and international cooperation to strengthen Turkmenistan's drug control capacity. We discussed joint projects to strengthen border management along Turkmenistan's borders with Afghanistan and Iran, and to develop a national Drug Control Agency. We also spoke about the Caspian Sea Initiative which is designed to enhance security along that important flank. |
| Read more... |
UNODC Speeches
| Disrupt criminal markets, not just the mafias High-level meeting of the UN General Assembly on transnational organized crime |
New York, 17 June 2010
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
In the past quarter century, organized crime has gone global. It has reached macro-economic and armed dimensions to become a threat to the stability of nations. The report on The Globalization of Crime issued today by my office (the UN Office on Drugs and Crime) provides the first comprehensive assessment of global crime markets: drugs, arms, modern slaves, illicit resources, counterfeits, as well as maritime piracy and cyber-crime.
The threat is not just economic. The threat is strategic, as criminals today can influence elections, politicians and the military – in one word, they buy power.
Some governments are unable to resist, as they lack the resourcess. Some others would be able to contain the problem, but show a benign neglect -- and I have in mind some rich nations. |
| Read more... |