Summary:
- UNODC’s Global Report on Cocaine 2023 reveals Nigerian criminal networks play a dominant role in cocaine trafficking across West and North Africa, and are active globally.
- Nigerian groups primarily use drug mules on passenger flights to traffic small quantities, with Nigerians being the most common foreign nationality arrested at Brazilian airports since 2018.
- The trafficking groups operate as tribe-based cells, collaborating with larger organizations outside of Nigeria, raising concerns about the growing involvement of Nigerian criminal networks in the global drug trade.
LAGOS, Nigeria (MandyNews) – The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has released its Global Report on Cocaine 2023, revealing that Nigerian criminal networks play a dominant role in cocaine trafficking across West and North Africa.
These networks are also active on a global scale, with support from a segment of the Nigerian diaspora and a vast network of drug couriers.
The report shows that Nigerian groups mostly use drug mules on passenger flights to move small amounts of cocaine. According to data from Brazil, Nigerians are the foreigners who are caught with the most drugs at Brazilian airports every year since 2018.
These Nigerian trafficking groups reportedly operate as tribe-based cells consisting of four or five core members. Each member has a small number of individuals working for them, who are often unaware of the core group’s identity. The report suggests that these groups collaborate with larger organizations outside of Nigeria.
The UNODC report also details cocaine trafficking routes across West and North Africa, as well as significant cocaine seizures in the Sahel and North Africa from 2018 to 2022.
This latest report shows how worried people are about drug trafficking in the area and how Nigerian criminal networks are becoming more involved in the global drug trade.
There will probably be more and more pressure on the Nigerian government and international groups to deal with and stop these illegal activities.
Read the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Global Report on Cocaine 2023 below:
