Police in The Gambia have seized two tonnes of cocaine, bound for Europe, with a street value of a record-breaking one billion US dollars. Over a dozen drugs traffickers have been arrested, including three Dutch nationals.
 

Listen to the interview with correspondent Sheriff Bojang:

The seizure highlights the new role West Africa is playing in the international drugs trade. The region has become a major hub for drugs trafficking between Latin America and Europe, due to its weak security and judicial systems. This makes it easier for drug gangs to export their goods to Europe, the UN’s drugs agency UNODC said in a report published last year.

Cocaine
There have been several incidents in recent months, including the arrest of a group of Venezuelan drug traffickers who tried to land a Boeing filled with cocaine on an illegal landing strip in Mali.

Tuesday’s drugs haul was the biggest the country had ever seen, says RNW’s The Gambia correspondent Sherifff Bojang. “Apart from the financial aspect, it’s the first time that this small country is making international headlines for its drugs trade. It has shocked the nation”.

Hummers
The growing drugs trade in countries such as The Gambia and Guinee Buissau is becoming more visible in these societies, says Sheriff: "It is obvious that there’s a lot of drugs money going on. Developments are moving in high speed. In Guinee Buissau, for instance, the people are poor, but you see the Hummers being driven in the country. If you balance that with the employment and you know that something is very wrong here”.

Drug lords
The people who make most money out of this trade are the Latin American drug lords who are shipping the drugs in large quantities. “And when it is brought into the country, many more people are making huge profits”, says Sheriff. “It’s not the common people, it’s not the individuals. It’s the governments and military chiefs. The drug lords are targeting the people in power and in some cases, they succeed”.

Since authorities have hardly any means fighting the drugs trade, west Africa has rapidly become a safe haven for drug lords. “They come to Africa with a lot of money and bribe those who are in power. They have nothing to fear. They can do whatever they want”, notes Sheriff.

But by now, the international community knows the African drugs trade is a huge blind spot in the international fight against narcotics. The UN, the US and Europe recently urged African countries to make more of an effort against the drug lords.

New policy?
So was Tuesday’s record-breaking seizure the beginning of a new policy in which authorities are trying to do something? Sheriff is optimistic: “It’s a big achievement of The Gambian security forces to do this. But it’s also a big embarrassment. Once again, The Gambia is in the international news for the wrong reasons. I’m sure the government is going to try to give the world the impression that it’s ready to take this fight all the way. So yes, it might yield some dividend along the way”.