Africa is critically viewed as a new battle against narcotics syndicates and terrorism.
Cocaine smuggling through West Africa has increased in recent years.
Several years ago, a South American drug gang tried to bribe the son of the Liberian president to allow it to use the country for smuggling.
However, he tipped off the DEA, and the gang members got arrested and convicted.
The United states government says its behind the curve in some ways to deal with these major threats.
Thus the US government is already training anti-drug specialists in Ghana and plans to do the same in Nigeria and Kenya to counter Latin American cartels smuggling drugs through Africa to Europe.
“We see Africa as the new frontier in terms of counterterrorism and counternarcotics issues,”Jeffrey Breeden, chief of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Europe, Asia and Africa was quoted as saying.
“It’s a place that we need to get ahead of — we’re already behind the curve in some ways, and we need to catch up.”
The United States is already conducting extensive anti-drug training programs in Mexico, Colombia and other countries.
US anti-drug assistance to West Africa has reached nearly $50 million for each of the past two years, up from just $7.5 million in 2009.
The DEA also is opening its first country office in Senegal.
Additional information: NY Times
Leave a Reply