Nigeria and Nigerian
drug traffickers dominate the African drug trade. Nigerian trafficking
organizations are responsible for a significant amount of SEA heroin
smuggled to the United States. Nigerian traffickers are well established
in other parts of West Africa, Southeast Asia, and Europe and are rapidly
entrenching themselves in such places as the former Communist bloc countries,
South Africa, Russia, Brazil, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
Large quantities
of heroin enter Nigeria via containerized cargo shipments and air cargo
from the Golden Triangle (Burma, Laos, and Thailand); however, because
of heightened search and security measures instituted by local law enforcement
at the airports, there has been an increase in the amount of drugs entering
Nigeria overland from neighboring countries, such as Cameroon, Niger,
and Benin, that share long stretches of a porous border with Nigeria.
Nigerian organizations
control the sub-Saharan drug markets, maintaining a presence in opium-producing
centers of Asia and the markets of many heroin-consuming nations around
the world. Nigerian traffickers do not distribute as much heroin in
Europe as in the United States. They have limited access to heroin distribution
markets in Europe since Turkish trafficking groups control the major
wholesale heroin distribution markets there. Europe is the primary market
for SWA heroin, which is supplied by these Turkish groups. Consumers
in the United States prefer SEA heroin over SWA heroin because SEA heroin
is less expensive. Nigerian traffickers supply this heroin to U.S. consumers.
Nigerian traffickers
have links to South American cocaine producers and permanent distribution
networks in Europe, the New Independent States, and East Asia. They
are responsible for most of the cocaine found in South Africa; they
control both wholesale and retail distribution in that country. Nigerian
cocaine traffickers were first detected in South Africa in 1992. Since
then, they increasingly have used South Africa as a transit area for
smuggling cocaine to Europe.
Nigerian traffickers
continue to be active in India, recruiting non-Nigerian couriers. Consequently,
their smuggling activities have become more difficult to detect. In
addition, Somali traffickers enjoy a close relationship with their Indian
traffickers. Reporting reflects that Somali traffickers have become
brokers between Indian and Nigerian traffickers.
Throughout
Nigeria, cannabis is a source of cash to be used in illegal cross-border
trade for food or consumer products. Nigerian marijuana and marijuana
resins are consumed in Nigeria and exported to neighboring countries
and Europe, which is the primary consumer. Nigerian marijuana is smuggled
into Europe concealed in commercial shipping containers, many of which
enter through ports in the Netherlands. In the past, Nigerian marijuana
was often smuggled into the United States. Now, however, Nigerian traffickers
concentrate on smuggling cocaine to Europe and heroin to the United
States because of a greater profit.
Nigerian criminal
organizations, specialists in moving drugs and other contraband, are
heavily involved in corollary criminal activities, such as document,
immigration, and financial fraud. Their ties to criminals in the United
States, Europe, South America, and South Africa are well documented.
Nigerian criminal organizations exact significant financial and societal
costs, especially in West African nations with limited resources for
countering these organizations.
Nigerian drug trafficking
groups are loosely structured, but closely connected to each other;
this allows for the free exchange of information, personnel, and resources.
Nigerian groups are able to react quickly to law enforcement efforts.
These groups are based on family or tribal affiliations. Members of
the Yoruba Tribe have established a strong presence in heroin-producing
countries and consumer countries. Members of the Ibo Tribe are the most
frequently arrested Nigerian group smuggling heroin into the United
States. According to the DEA Lagos Country Office, 90 percent of those
arrested are from the Ibo Tribe.
Nigerian drug organizations
are among the most numerous trafficking groups importing SEA heroin
into the United States. SEA heroin is obtained in Thailand and transported
to the United States via other countries, such as the Philippines. Other
Nigerian traffickers obtain SWA heroin in Pakistan, shipping it through
other countries to the United States.
As
they have for the past 10 years, Nigerian traffickers use couriers to
smuggle heroin to the United States and Europe. They recruit couriers
of diverse nationalities, backgrounds, genders, and ages, from Africa,
Europe, Asia, and the United States. Couriers smuggle the heroin inside
suitcases, ingest an amount (usually less than 1 kilogram), or conceal
it on their bodies. Increasingly, Nigerian traffickers are using lower
risk conveyances for concealing heroin, such as U.S. mail and express
mail packages.
Cocaine also is
smuggled by Nigerian traffickers by the same concealment methods as
heroin. Law enforcement officials in the United Kingdom and Germany
are intercepting cocaine sent from South America in postal and express
mail parcels.
Drug-Related Money Laundering
Although Nigeria
is not a significant regional or international financial center, nor
an important tax haven or offshore banking center, drug traffickers
continue to launder money in Nigerian financial institutions. Nigerian
trafficking organizations use the country’s financial institutions
to convert drug profits into Nigerian currency for reuse in other countries.
Drug proceeds in U.S. currency are transferred from the United States
to third-country bank accounts that have Nigeria as the financial destination.
Nigerian traffickers
bring huge sums of money into their country by various methods, such
as Western Union, American Express, and other financial institutions.
They also launder money in other countries, such as Canada, France,
Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and
the United States.
Although the import
or export of Nigerian currency is prohibited, there are no laws preventing
the movement of foreign currency into, or out of, the country. Nigerians
are allowed to have foreign currency accounts in Nigerian banking institutions
without disclosing the source of funds. Finance houses, mortgage banks,
and other nonbanking institutions perform banking activities without
the same scrutiny from government officials as that given to banking
institutions. Foreign exchange bureaus legally trade in foreign currency
notes and traveler’s checks.
In February 1995,
the Nigerian Government promulgated a decree that criminalized money
laundering; individuals found guilty of money laundering are subject
to prison sentences of between 15 and 25 years. The decree imposed a
ceiling on cash transactions by individuals and corporations, except
through banks. It required banks and financial institutions to report
suspicious transactions and foreign transactions of US$6,600 or more.
Under the decree, individual bankers may be held responsible for certain
offenses and assets and properties can be seized. Between 1995 and 1996,
the Nigerian Government took steps to prosecute suspected money launderers
by establishing tribunals to try cases involving drug trafficking. Since
1995, enforcement of the decree has been uneven, with few seizures or
convictions.
Drug Enforcement Agencies
and Legislation
The National Drug
Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), established in 1990 by Decree 48, is
the primary drug law enforcement agency in Nigeria. NDLEA has agents
stationed at Nigeria’s international airports, seaports, and border
checkpoints. The Nigerian Customs and Excise Department turns over investigations
to NDLEA. The Nigerian Army Military Police are involved in drug investigations
only when one of their own is implicated. In 1994, the Nigerian Government
appointed a special advisor on drugs, money laundering, and fraud, whose
role is to coordinate the anti-drug efforts of NDLEA, Police, Customs,
and Immigration officials.
The National Agency
for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) is responsible
for monitoring the acquisition and disposal of drugs by authorized manufacturers,
importers, and distributors. NDLEA cooperates with NAFDAC to prevent
diversion of these substances. There has been no evidence of the diversion
of legitimate drugs and chemicals from Nigeria nor any reported cases
of precursor chemicals transiting Nigeria.
Under Decree 48,
possession of drugs can result in prison sentences ranging from 15 to
25 years, and life imprisonment for producers and traffickers. Under
Decree 10 of 1990, the Nigerian Government can charge a person with
illegal exportation of drugs if, having avoided detection departing
Nigeria, the traveler is found in possession of drugs upon arrival at
his/her destination. If found guilty, the maximum penalty under the
decree is 5 years in prison upon the citizen’s return to Nigeria.
The Nigerian Government’s
counterdrug efforts are unfocused and lacking in resources. The country’s
counterdrug policy focuses on stopping individual couriers and combating
local cannabis production and marijuana consumption. Numerous small-time
couriers are arrested, but major traffickers and their controlling organizations
are largely unaffected. NDLEA attempts to prosecute these traffickers
are affected by a weak judicial system and government corruption. Corruption
is widespread in Nigerian Government and society. Besides resources
and inadequate inter-agency coordination, corruption is the most serious
obstacle to effective counterdrug performance.
Drug Abuse and Treatment
Marijuana, heroin,
and cocaine are the drugs of choice for Nigerian abusers and are readily
available in Lagos and other big cities at very low prices. Some abusers
use both heroin and cocaine, relying on heroin to mediate the unpleasant
side effects associated with cocaine. Some abusers also mix cocaine
with marijuana and smoke it in cigarettes. Marijuana use is generally
tolerated with few arrests made for simple possession.
Drug abuse is increasing
in Nigeria, especially among middle- and upper-class youth. Nigerian
drug abuse experts and government officials blame the increase in drug
abuse on a sharp decline in the standard of living in Nigeria and the
glut of drugs in the country. Many cocaine and/or heroin couriers in
Nigeria are paid partially or entirely in drugs. Those drugs are sold
locally at cheap prices.
There are several
addiction treatment facilities in the metropolitan area; however, the
cost of receiving treatment is prohibitive for the average citizen.
The government
and various social and civic organizations are working together to reduce
the demand for drugs with financial aid, advertising campaigns, and
demand reduction seminars. The NDLEA is responsible for educating the
public about drug abuse and for after-care rehabilitation, special reintegration,
and education of drug addicts.
NDLEA
Statistics for the Period of January 8 to April 30, 2001
| |
NDLEA
Arrests
|
Total
Kilograms Seized
|
| Marijuana |
272
|
2,725.72
|
| Cocaine |
3
|
9.06556
|
| Heroin |
16
|
20.253
|
|
Note:
One arrest occurred at Murtala
Mohammed International Airport in Lagos. The other arrests occurred
throughout Nigeria.
Source:
NDLEA
|
Treaties and Conventions
Nigeria is a signatory
to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the 1972 protocol amending
the 1961 Single Convention, the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances,
the 1988 United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic
Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, and is a member of INTERPOL.
Outlook
- Nigeria will
continue to be a major hub in Africa for the transshipment of SEA
heroin to Europe and the United States. Large quantities of SEA heroin
enter Nigeria in containerized cargo and air cargo from the Golden
Triangle.
- Nigerian drug
traffickers dominate the African drug trade. They are one of the most
significant trafficking groups smuggling SEA heroin into the United
States, and they are responsible for most of the cocaine found in
South Africa. Nigerian traffickers have connections to South American
cocaine producers and cocaine distribution networks in Europe, the
New Independent States, and East Asia.
- Nigerian marijuana
is consumed in Nigeria and neighboring countries and exported to Europe,
which is the primary consumer. It is no longer smuggled to the United
States because of the greater profits realized from the trafficking
of heroin and cocaine.
- Drug abuse is
increasing in Nigeria, attributed to the glut of drugs in the country.
Many drug couriers are paid partially or entirely in drugs, which
are sold locally.
- The Nigerian
Government, working with various social and civic organizations, is
trying to reduce the demand for drugs with financial aid, advertising
campaigns, and demand reduction seminars.
- Besides the
lack of resources and unfocused drug enforcement policies, corruption
is the most serious obstacle to Nigeria’s counterdrug performance.
- In order to
try to make progress on this counterdrug issue, in an international
context, Nigeria is a signatory to various related treaties, one of
which is the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. It also is
a member of INTERPOL.
