Cocaine smuggling to the European continent has reached new heights in recent years • Trump expands the attacks near Venezuela, but the US is not the main victim • International criminal organizations cooperate with brutal terrorist organizations in Africa, along with governments and corrupt parties – and overwhelm the continent with one of its greatest threats
A huge network of drug dealers from Venezuela and jihadist groups in West Africa is becoming one of the most significant threats to Europe. Unprecedented amounts of cocaine are flowing from Venezuela to West Africa, where organizations affiliated with al-Qaeda are making sure to continue moving the goods north to the European continent, the Wall Street Journal reported today (Monday). In Europe, demand is increasing and breaking records, which poses a grave danger to the continent.
According to international enforcement officials, smugglers in Venezuela – including corrupt military and government officials and gang members – transport the cargo by any means possible: light aircraft, fishing boats, improvised submarines and even cargo ships. From there, in Africa, brutal jihadists and terrorists enter the picture and local groups that transport the cargo north and profit from the transit.
Jesus Romero, a former American military intelligence officer, explained that “today’s cocaine is not what it was in the 1980s. There are direct connections to terrorist organizations that use it to finance their activities.”
Colombia is flooded, Venezuela becomes a major player
Following the production of cocaine on an unprecedented scale in Colombia, traditional smuggling routes have become congested, and the smugglers have discovered Venezuela in recent years. The dictator Nicolás Maduro’s country is in a strategic location with weak security institutions and a long coastline that allows for extensive smuggling operations. The result: the increase in supply also leads to an increase in the demand and consumption of cocaine around the world, including areas that were not previously considered to be major consumers, such as Eastern Europe and Australia.
The merger between drug traffickers, jihadist elements and corrupt officials points to what experts identify as an ever-expanding global axis of organized crime, terrorism and rogue states – an axis that undermines social and democratic stability in Western countries.
The Trump administration is increasing the pressure
The Trump administration has turned the international spotlight on Venezuela, claiming that its leader Nicolas Maduro is deeply involved in the drug trade, a claim that Maduro denies. The US attacked dozens of vessels that were allegedly carrying drugs from the region. However, experts emphasize that the main flow of cocaine is directed to Europe, and not to the US, mostly through West Africa and islands across the Atlantic Ocean.
In West Africa, the smugglers communicate with organizations affiliated with al-Qaeda in Mali, who accompany the convoys and impose “transit fees”. As a result, the terrorist organizations get rich and gain a great advantage in the local struggles against governments and the security forces that work against them. At the same time, Europe currently consumes more cocaine than North America.
Planes disappear in failed countries, inspectors accept bribes
Contrary to popular belief, very few coca leaves are grown in Venezuela, and it also has few laboratories for the production of the popular drug. Most of the cocaine comes from Colombia through the border, and is transported from there.
Last September, two Gulf Stream planes took off From a makeshift airstrip in the county state of Apora (Apure) in southern Venezuela, near the border with Colombia. One of them was caught in Guinea-Bissau with 2.6 tons of cocaine, a local record. The second plane arrived in Burkina Faso, another country subject to a security crisis against the Islamist terrorist organizations.
According to Western sources, at least one shipment a week takes off from Venezuela to Africa. The smugglers turn off the tracking devices on the planes and sometimes bribe flight controllers to turn off the monitoring systems when the planes pass over them.
Cocaine finances terrorism – and hurts Europe
The large contraband seized in Guinea-Bissau was destined for northern Mali, an area where drug money finances groups affiliated with al-Qaeda. After al-Qaeda took over the region in 2012, jihadist leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar fought local Tuareg factions to take control of the smuggling routes.
From Africa, the cargo passes through the Sahara region to Algeria, Morocco and Libya. According to a report by the United Nations, terrorist organizations in Libya supported by Russia collect money for the transit of cocaine from Niger to Egypt. From there – the way to transport it in the Mediterranean Sea to Europe is short.
The direct sea route to Venezuela is also taking a major part: fishing boats, various vessels and submarines are still being seized in Spain, Portugal and other countries. Last December, the Spanish seized 3.3 tons of cocaine on a Venezuelan fishing vessel. In Ireland, a catch of 2.2 tons in 2023 is considered the largest in the country’s history, and it also started off the coast of Venezuela.
European agencies are increasing cooperation with countries in Africa, but the quantities are only increasing. In the Sahel region, military coups in Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and other countries have widely undermined the ability to stem the flow of drugs. “Situations of instability and coups only make the situation worse,” said researcher Orléan Yorke, who has studied the illegal trade in the region.