The drug trade in East Africa was originally organized and managed by Nigerian crime organizations. Illegal drug trafficking in East Africa can be traced back to the mid-1980s, when drug traffickers started using East African countries as their transit sites. Poverty is rampant, contributing to the weakness of the state. Corruption has encouraged lucrative illegal operations such as the illicit drug market: officials can be bribed to ignore criminal activities. Weak law enforcement operations throughout the region are unequipped to prevent smuggling. The sociopolitical environment of many countries in East Africa has encouraged the illegal drug trade.
In the 1970s, however, due to the negative effects of the African debt crisis and associated structural adjustment programs, historically legitimate routes of commerce increasingly became conduits of illicit substances, where illegal substances could flow quickly without much interference. Historical trade routes through the Indian Ocean to Asia and through sub-Saharan Africa have facilitated the flow of legal goods for many years. For instance, the Journal of International Affairs stated in 2012, "The UN office on drugs and crime reported a four-fold increase in cocaine seizures in East Africa in 2009–10 from 2005." ĭue to its history and geography, East Africa is an ideal port of entry for the transportation of drugs from Asia. Despite the lack of records of the illegal drug trade in East Africa, there are signs that East Africa is growing as a port of entry for illegal drugs and a channel to transfer drugs into Europe and the United States. The United Nations, East African governments, and scholars agree that the low number of recorded seizures are a symptom of the incapability of regional law enforcement, and an inability to evaluate and understand the illegal drug trade. Little attention is drawn to these activities, partly because the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime lists only a small percentage of seizures of illicit drugs from the region. In the last few decades, various countries in East Africa have become major ports of entry in the international drug trade illegal substances are transported there from Asia before they are smuggled into Europe and the United States. The main drugs involved are heroin, marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine.
The East African drug trade is the sale and trafficking of illegal narcotics centered in East Africa. ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)
( November 2019) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. The neutrality of this article is disputed.
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