Afghan Drugs in Eastern Africa

Monday, 15 August 2011 11:30 - Last Updated Monday, 15 August 2011 19:18

In purely technical terms, the emergence of international drug trade in Eastern Africa over the last couple of years or more is an astonishing feat. Not only is Eastern Africa conveniently situates for trade between Asia and Europe, but above all it has a political and social environment that is generally suitable for the transhipment of Afghan drug trade. In this regard, West African drug traders are showing great ingenuity in switching their smuggling techniques and routes, for example exporting from Europe to Africa for onward transmission to Europe and North America.

Afghan Drugs

Since the release in late July 2011 of a UN report on Afghan Drugs , considerable media attention has focused on Africa in general and Eastern Africa in particular. A report published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime/UNODC/ in late July 2011 has drawn unprecedented international attention to Eastern Africas role as an intermediary in the drug trade between Afghanistan and Western Europe. Major media outlets have carried full-page articles on the subject. But law-enforcement officers have long been aware of the reach of Afghan and Pakistani drug-trading networks, and the UNODC and other official bodies have for some years been observing a sharp rise in drug exports from Afghanistan to Eastern Africa.

A major change in the global drug trade is taking place. According to the UNODC report drug traffickers faced with restrictions to transit routes through Asia and the Middle East are turning to Eastern Africa., driving up instability and increasing substance abuse. Drugs from Afghanistan are becoming a global threat. Annually the country produces 7-8 tons of opium and before the international forces came to the country it was twice less. Currently Afghanistan produces around 95% of the entire heroin in the while world worth approximately 44 billion

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Afghan Drugs in Eastern Africa

Monday, 15 August 2011 11:30 - Last Updated Monday, 15 August 2011 19:18

Euros. Globally, Afghan drugs are estimated to cause the death of 100,000 people. The main victims are the European Union and NATO member states themselves. But due to socio-economic fragilities other countries and regions in Africa are the most vulnerable. Some African law- enforcement officers are deeply concerned by the likely effects of the drug trade and drug money on their own societies, and indeed there is evidence that drug money may be funding criminal and political groups. Diplomats and other international officials worry that some African countries could develop along similar lines to other Latin American countries especially Mexico, where drug gangs have a symbiotic relationship with political parties and with the state and drug-related violence results in thousands of deaths every year.

Why Eastern Africa

How can one explain this newly developing threat? European traders and their West African agents who see some benefit in moving part of their Afghan drug operations to Eastern Africa can find local partners with well-established networks who provide them with safe houses, banking storage space, and a host of other facilities in return for a suitable financial arrangement or for payment in kind. Not only is Eastern Africa conveniently situates for trade between Asia and Europe, but above all it has a political and social environment that is generally suitable for the drug trade. The reasons are many. In some instances, smuggling is widely tolerated, law enforcement is fitful and inefficient, and politicians are easily bribed or are even involved in the drug trade themselves. The Horn of Africa is not only made up of some fragile states, it is a fragile region. Fragility invites not only extremism, terror, crime and small arms but also drugs. Traffickers are exploiting poorly-staffed seaports and airports and the lower cost and ease of transporting drugs through Africa makes the extra distance worthwhile. Expertise in smuggling, the weakness of law-enforcement agencies, and the official tolerance of, or even participation in, certain types of crime, constitute a form of social and political capital that tends to accumulate overtime.

Generally speaking, however, the roots of Eastern Africas emergence as a major transit point for a more broadly based Afghan trade in illegal drugs may be traced to the US/NATO intervention in that country. Rather than containing drug trade the so-called war on terror

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Afghan Drugs in Eastern Africa

Monday, 15 August 2011 11:30 - Last Updated Monday, 15 August 2011 19:18

diversified its routes and markets. It is therefore interesting to note that, at the end of 2010, while the US and Coalition forces began to talk of troop drawdown, Eastern Africa has already figured prominently on the list of regions where drugs from Afghanistan transit to Europe. In this regard, West African drug traders are showing great ingenuity in switching their smuggling techniques and routes, for example exporting from Europe to Africa for onward transmission to Europe and North America.

Paradoxically, the profiles on drug trade that are widely used by the UN or the US do not appear to include the shipment of Afghan trade to Africa. Afghanistan is the worlds biggest producer of opium, the base ingredient of heroin, and over 40 percent of this flowed into Pakistan in 2009 before being transported worldwide as part of a 68% global opium market. Probably, the war on terror is somehow related with the increased threat of drugs from Afghanistan. Organized groups are the main beneficiaries of this trade and related smuggling rackets. But since comprehensive data is not yet out, drug abuse estimates are likely to be unrealistically low. More and more inhabitants in the Eastern African region are becoming subject to drug abuse, human trafficking and child prostitution.

Actors and Interests

Moreover, the international community has been ignoring its responsibilities, not increasing it as it should be. Some committed countries around the region have maintained some degree of vigilance, but has not raised their capacity and cooperation to meet the current dangers. So far, a UN report has admitted Africas emergence as an important heroin transport route in the year 2009 was a serious concern. The region is ill prepared and ill equipped to fight drug trafficking or care for people addicted to drugs. There is an urgent need to combat drug trafficking from Afghanistan. So far the main focus has been for drugs coming from Latin America. The obsessions of the US with the drugs originating from the Americas have blurred the attention that should have been given to other drug trafficking and exporting regions. Nobody denies the threat from Latin America, but dealing with the threat of drugs from Afghanistan is equally immediate and important. The situation is getting worse. This must be solved under the auspices of the UN because the US-led war on terror has failed to deal with problem.

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Afghan Drugs in Eastern Africa

Monday, 15 August 2011 11:30 - Last Updated Monday, 15 August 2011 19:18

The relocation of a substantial part of Afghan drug business through Eastern Africa, is not best understood as a consequence simply of comparative advantage of avoiding restrictions through Asia. A more important reason for this development, which has been taken place for long, is the exceptionally favorable political, economic and social context offered by ineffective policing, some governments that have a reputation for venality, and more important the relative lack of international attention given to Eastern Africa. Is this somehow linked to the recent Chinese penetration into the region? Wherever Chinese business goes, Chinese crime syndicates follow. This brings us to the role of the UN and major global powers.

The Role of the UN

The UN, as the primary responsible body, in cooperation with Security Council members and the international community must develop a clear policy and plan of action to fight the threat of drugs from Afghanistan going through Eastern Africa. In purely technical terms, the emergence of international drug trade in Eastern Africa over the last couple of years or more is an astonishing feat. This is a real concern to the international community for numerous reasons, including the humanitarian crises that it could generate, and the propensity to export problems to their neighbours and globally, including crime, refugees, social and economic dislocation, armed conflict and terrorism.

A first step would be a trilateral dialogue between the UN, the AU and the EU. Broadly consulted and well executed plan would not only protect other regions from harm, meet humanitarian obligations and human security needs but would also help stabilize Afghanistan and the wider region. Such a dialogue should take the role of newly emerging powers in Africa, particularly China into consideration. The recent emergence of China as a major diplomatic and

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Afghan Drugs in Eastern Africa

Monday, 15 August 2011 11:30 - Last Updated Monday, 15 August 2011 19:18

business operator in Africa, and the arrival in the continent of substantial numbers of Chinese expatriates and even settlers, adds a further element to this chemistry. Chinese crime gangs have a long history in Africa. Their enhanced presence in the sub-region can be expected to result in collaboration with local interests, and the development of new illicit markets in China itself. Above all, the UN has yet to announce a plan for handling this growing menace. If there is not an increase in attention and planning with regard to Afghan drugs, any chance for peace and tranquility in many parts of the world is not bright. The UN Security Council should avoid narrow and selective focus on the fight against drugs and pursue agendas that often do not end up promoting peace and security.

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