Cocaine ‘coming through Africa’

WEST AFRICAN gangs have developed a new cocaine trafficking route into Europe, according to a UN drugs watchdog.

The body said the new supply route is fuelling the increasing use and abuse of cocaine throughout Europe, including Ireland.

The finding confirms Garda suspicions about the emergence of West African drug trafficking gangs here. This was highlighted, most recently, in a massive 25kg haul of the drug in Dublin two weeks ago.

In its 2004 annual report, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) warned that the global availability of cocaine had not fallen despite massive policing efforts.

The INCB, which polices UN drug laws, said new developments had emerged in the trafficking of cocaine.

“There are some new trends in the smuggling of cocaine into Europe; the cocaine shipments involved are increasingly being transported through Southern Africa and, in particular, Western Africa; and the operations are often organised by criminal groups from Western Africa,” said the INCB.

It said the evidence of this was seen in record seizures of cocaine along the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa in the past two years.

“Colombian trafficking groups are now shipping cocaine to Spain through the islands and countries off the coast of Mauritania and Senegal.”

The report said the new trade route appeared to be as a consequence of tighter enforcement in European countries through which the majority of cocaine is trafficked.

The report said cocaine usage had increased in many parts of Europe, including Ireland.

“Increased seizures of cocaine in Europe reflect increased abuse of the drug, which is evident from the fact that more Europeans are seeking treatment for cocaine-related problems,” it said.

Seizures in Ireland have jumped from 6kgs in 2001, to 117kgs in 2003 to an estimated 300kgs in 2005.

Gardaí say Nigerian gangs largely control the supply of crack cocaine in Dublin.