Africa is often the forgotten continent for things like drug trafficking, but just look around the news, the African continent plays a critical role in the global illicit drug market – and its growing – And no more so than in East and Southern Africa. As global trade has exploded, African organized criminal networks have established relationships with other criminal organizations around the world from the PCC in Brazil to the Comancheros Bikie Gang in New Zealand.

Over the course of a few years, the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime have produced three papers covering the major illicit drug markets in the region - cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamime (crystal meth). These papers cover the movement and transiting of drugs but also the domestic markets - and the findings are that you find drugs everywhere, in coastal cities and rural villages.

In this episode we talk about all three illicit drugs, the markets, those involved and the users themselves.

Speaker(s):

Jason Eligh, Senior Expert, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

x2 Anonyomous researchers (Kenya, South Africa)

Happy Assan, Drug Researcher, Tanzania

Additional Reading:

(GI Paper) A Synthetic Age: The Evolution of Methamphetamine Markets in Eastern and Southern Africa - Link

(GI Paper) A Powder Storm: The cocaine markets of East and southern Africa - Link

(GI Paper) A Shallow Flood: The Diffusion of Heroin in Eastern and Southern Africa - Link

(Website) Drug Markets in Eastern and Southern Africa - Link

News Articles:

Record Bust For Mozambique Bound Drugs - Link

Mozambican arrested in Brazil with 5 kg of cocaine hidden in ‘7-day candles’ - Link

BBC News - Fuminho: One of Brazil's most wanted criminals arrested in Mozambique - Link

Insight Crime - Cocaine Trade Grows in East and Southern Africa - Link

Insight Crime - Marcos Willians Herbas Camacho, alias ‘Marcola’ - Link

National commander of Comancheros jailed for conspiring to import 600kg of meth - Link

NZ Herald - Comancheros meth trial: Gang leader Seiana Fakaosilea, co-defendants sentenced - Link

SunStar - CUSTOMS CLARK SEIZES P11.27M WORTH OF METH - Link

Daily Maverick - Tik and cocaine worth billions found in consignments of apples, pears and oranges exported from SA to India - Link

BBC News - Abdul Nsembo and Shamim Mwasha: Tanzania popular fashion blogger and husband get life imprisonment for drug trafficking - Link

AfricaPress - Shamim Mwasha, Husband Sentenced to Life in Prison - Link