Drug seizures have surged in West Africa’s Sahel region, suggesting the conflict-torn region is becoming an influential drug trafficking route, according to data in a new United Nations report released on Friday.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime reported that 1,466 kilograms of cocaine were seized in Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso and Niger in 2022, compared with an average of 13 kilograms between 2013 and 2020.

Cocaine is the second most seized drug in the Sahel after cannabis resin, the report said. The analysis came as Senegal, which borders the Sahel region, announced on Sunday a record 1,137 kilograms of cocaine seized near an artisanal mine in the east of the country, the largest ever seized on land. , worth $146 million. Such incidents are increasingly common in the region: in one incident last December, the Senegalese navy seized a total of 3 tons of cocaine at sea.

The Sahel region lies south of the Sahara Desert and stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea, making it a natural transit point for the growing amounts of cocaine produced in South America and destined for Europe. Amado Filipe de Andrés, UNODC Regional Representative for West and Central Africa, said trafficking had a negative impact on peace and health both locally and globally.

“The involvement of various armed groups in drug trafficking continues to undermine peace and stability in the region,” Philippe de Andrés said. The report said the drug trade provides financial resources to armed groups in the Sahel, and with recent incidents in the region Following a series of coups, Islamic extremist networks have flourished in the region.

Lucia Bird, director of the West African Illicit Economy Observatory of the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, said growing trafficking networks in the region are spreading into local markets, leading to increased drug consumption.

“We have received reports of increasing consumption of crack cocaine in Agadez, Niger, driven by in-kind payments,” Bird said. “Smaller drug dealers get paid for drugs and then move it to local markets because they don’t have the connections in more profitable consumer destinations.”

On Monday, a patrol in southwestern Niger intercepted a shipment of marijuana and tramadol, an opioid painkiller, worth $50,000, state television announced.

Bird said another important trend in the region is the direct exchange of Moroccan cannabis through West Africa for South American cocaine. She explained that the arrangement, which has been developing since 2020, bypasses the need for cash payments and takes advantage of differences in drug prices across continents, adding that it has increased overland drug trafficking from West African ports through some countries. quantity. The Sahel is the region most affected by conflict.

The UN report added that corruption and money laundering are key drivers of drug trafficking, with recent seizures and arrests demonstrating that political elites, community leaders and leaders of armed groups facilitate the drug trade in the Sahel.

Leonardo Santos Simão, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative for West Africa, said: “The countries of the Sahel, together with the international community, must take urgent, coordinated and comprehensive action to dismantle drug trafficking networks.”