Trafficking in the Sahel - Guns, Gas, and Gold: WestAfrica
Markets across the Sahel can be found openly selling a wide range of contraband goods, from fake medicines to AK-style assault rifles.is often deadly, estimated to kill 500,000 sub-Saharan Africans every year; in just one case, 70 Gambian children died in 2022 after ingesting smuggled cough syrup. Fuel is another commodity trafficked by the main players - terrorist groups, criminal networks, and local militias.
Sting operations such as KAFO II provide valuable insights into trafficking's increasingly complex and interwoven nature, demonstrating the importance of connecting the dots between crime cases involving firearms and terrorists across different countries, and taking a regional approach.
One of those threads is corruption, and the reports call for judicial action to be bolstered. The prison system also needs to be engaged, as detention facilities can become"a university for criminals" to broaden their networks. "Organized crime is feeding on the vulnerabilities and also undermining stability and development in the Sahel," says François Patuel, head of the UNODC Research and Awareness Unit."Combining efforts and taking a regional approach will lead to success in addressing organized crime in the region.
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Trafficking in the Sahel - Guns, Gas, and GoldThe Sahel region in Africa is facing a growing problem of trafficking, involving various goods such as chili peppers, fake medicine, fuel, gold, guns, and humans. These illicit activities are carried out through long-standing trade routes that span across the Sahel, which is home to over 300 million people across countries like Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, and Senegal. The Sahel is described by the UN as a region in crisis: those living there are prey to chronic insecurity, climate shocks, conflict, coups, and the rise of criminal and terrorist networks. UN agencies expect that more than 37 million people will need humanitarian assistance in 2023, about 3 million more than in 2022. The UN and partners are trying out new, collaborative ways to thwart those attempting the illegal practice, a growing problem in this fragile African region.
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