In the Sahel, drug trafficking thrives thanks to armed groups

Drug trafficking continues to thrive in the Sahel thanks to non-state armed groups which are very active there, indicates the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in its 2023 report published Monday in Niamey.

According to the UNODC report, the quantities of cocaine seized in the Sahel – Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad – jumped last year. They increase from 13 kg per year between 2015 and 2020 and 35 kg in…