Latin Drug Trade invades Western Africa

By: Gina Fazio

What used to be a lucrative drug trade to the United States from Latin America has all but dried up since the cocaine trade began declining in the mid 1980s. Now, Latin drug cartels look to West Africa as a springboard for a drug market in Europe, specifically in the UK, Span, Italy, France and Portugal.

A number of economic factors and surprisingly political factors have aided in this shift. The number one reason being that in recent years the US has upped security on its southern borders to add difficulty to drug trafficking. Also with the shift of the economy, the Euro has gained a great amount of strength over the US Dollar making trade more profitable to drug dealers operating out of Europe.

But perhaps the most startling and lamentable reason for this shift is simply that Western Africa is overlooked by developed nations. The area is so filled with corruption not only on a local police level but at the highest of government offices that most nations choose to deny any form of support to these nations. This leaves the region fairly to its own whims making it an amply unturned stone for drug cartels to hide their new businesses in.