Vienna, 08 July-(ANA)-West Africa has become the transit route for cigarettes, counterfeit medicines, arms and people in the wake of a declining cocaine traffic from Latin America to Europe, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime has said.
The value of the illicit trafficking is greater than the gross domestic products of some the states in the region. UNODC said, adding that revenue from 45 million counterfeit anti-malarial tablets, worth 438-million dollars, is greater than Guinea-Bissau's GDP.
Cigarettes smuggled through the region are worth 775-million dollars, more than Gambia's entire legal economy.
UNODC said in its annual threat assessment report that West Africa has become the target of traffickers in arms, women, counterfeit medicines, toxic waste including electronic waste, oil and other natural resources including hardwoods and diamonds.
The Vienna-based UNODC said that Latin American traffickers have used West Africa for years to feed Europe with about a quarter of its cocaine addiction. In 2006, about 40 tons of cocaine transited the region to Europe.(ANA)
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