Illicit drugs fuelling conflicts

A new UN report has highlighted the growing links between illegal drugs and civil conflicts in Africa.

"The ongoing conflicts and post-conflict situations that prevail in several African countries are conducive to increasing drug problems among children and youth in particular," the annual report of the UN's International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) stated.

The report said that child combatants in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and other countries were provided with drugs to induce them "to carry out dangerous operations with impunity". The Austria-based INCB, which is responsible for promoting government compliance with international drug control treaties, said it believed illicit drugs were also used to finance civil wars and the purchase of arms, including in Angola and Rwanda.

Cannabis was the main illicit drug in Africa, but trafficking in and abuse of methaqualone (Mandrax) were serious problems in eastern and southern Africa, while cocaine and amphetamines were becoming increasingly popular on the continent, the report said. The retail distribution of illicit drugs was likely to expand in the region due to rising unemployment.

Meanwhile, reports of the clandestine manufacture of methaqualone had recently emerged in Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zambia, it said.

As a result of increased law enforcement efforts in Nigeria, drug
traffickers had begun using other African countries for the trans-shipment of illicit drugs. Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius and Tanzania were key routes for the transit of heroin from Asia to Europe, North America and South Africa, according to the report.

Seaports used for the smuggling of illicit drugs included Mombasa in Kenya, Maputo in Mozambique, Durban in South Africa, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and several in west Africa. "Drug abuse appears to be increasing in countries along the major trafficking routes," the report added.

[The full report is available at http://www.incb.org/e/ind_ar.htm]