In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the drug trade in West Africa rapidly expanded amid dramatic increases in US and European demand for cocaine, cannabis, and other drugs. This resulted in the expansion of two distinct trade routes, both of which went through West Africa. One route exported domestically produced cannabis from West Africa to South Africa, Europe, and Asia. The other trade route moved cocaine from Latin America and heroin from Afghanistan and Southeast Asia to Europe and the United States. In both of these routes, drug traffickers took advantage of trading networks created by Malian and Berber traders in colonial times to move drugs through the region, as well as West Africa's broader geographical location as an intermediate stop from Latin America and Southwest Asia to Europe and the United States.[1] This was due in part to West Africa's badly policed borders, endemic corruption, and economic inequalities.[2]
At first, the drugs were only smuggled in small quantities; but as time progressed and the demand for drugs kept rising, countries in West Africa — notably Nigeria, Ghana, and Guinea-Bissau — were entrusted with cocaine loads as large as 135 to 145 tonnes (according to the UNODC). Since then West Africa has become a key component of the drug trading world,[3] with increase in both variety and number of drugs trafficked through West Africa, and the expansion of the drug trade from West Africa to other parts of the continent.[1] International pressure and prioritization by regional governments has fuelled the rise of drug control organizations in many West African countries, shifting the focal point of political, economic, and social domestic action.