Dalende mængder af kokain, som bliver opsnappet af myndighederne, harmonerer dårligt med at kokainmarkedet i Europa vokser. Det får ifølge BBC FNs narkobekæmpelsesenhed til at konkludere, at metoderne til at smugle kokain ind i Europa via Vestafrika er blevet mere raffinerede – blandt andet ved brug af ubåde.
UN anti-drugs officials believe cocaine trafficking through West Africa to reach the lucrative markets in Europe is getting increasingly sophisticated.
According to BBC, the regional head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Alexandre Schmidt, said cocaine seizures had gone down. But he had every reason to believe the trade was still increasing, and was now worth some $800m (£494m) a year.
Instead, Mr. Schmidt said, “there has been a repositioning of the drug routes and the drug traffickers have much more sophisticated means and they are using more routes.”
There is anecdotal evidence to suggest cartels have used submarines, as they have done off the South American and Caribbean coasts.
Measures to counter drug trafficking
At a conference in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, UNODC regional in Dakar joined hands with the World Customs Organization (WCO) and Interpol to improve communication between police and airports in seven West African countries and Brazil to crack down on drug trafficking has been launched in Dakar (Senegal) the western most point of the African continent.
UNODC, this project called AIRCOP is aimed at establishing effective communication and exchange of intelligence between Senegal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo during its first phase while Guinea and Morocco are invited to join. Airports participating in the programme will have units of no more than 20 people operating around the clock.
According to BBC, UNODC indicated that West African drug cartels had started to emerge within the region, and they were managing to stay one step ahead of transnational crime units, who were finding it harder to intercept the smuggled goods.
