African countries shift from drug transit points to synthetic drug production hubs

African nations are moving beyond their traditional role as drug transit points and are becoming sites of synthetic drug production, DW reported. For years, international trafficking networks used the continent primarily to move illicit drugs to other destinations. Recent laboratory discoveries and drug seizures show that illicit substances are now increasingly being manufactured inside African countries. [1]

Authorities have discovered methamphetamine laboratories in Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, and Mozambique, DW reported. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, these discoveries have raised concerns that the continent is becoming a major production hub for synthetic drugs, driven by transnational criminal networks. [1]

The drug trade in West Africa expanded significantly in the late 1950s and early 1960s as demand for cocaine, cannabis, and other drugs grew in the United States and Europe. Two main routes developed through the region, using trading networks established by Malian and Berber traders in colonial times. One route exported local cannabis to South Africa, Europe, and Asia, while the other moved Latin American cocaine and Asian heroin toward European and American markets. [2]