African routes heavily exploited by Brazilian drug traffickers during the Covid pandemic
Africa is an important route for smuggling cocaine from Brazil.
AP - Matt Rourke
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
African air routes, especially in East and Southern Africa, have been widely exploited by Brazilian drug traffickers during the Covid period, this is the observation made by a Brazilian expert.
In 2021, many "mules" departing from Brazil thus transited through the continent's airports.
The Brazilian authorities have therefore decided to focus their efforts on African countries in the fight against drug trafficking.
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“
Africa is an important route for cocaine trafficking from Brazil,
explains Daniel Justo Madruga, Brazilian federal police officer for the African continent, based in Pretoria, joined by Raphaël Bellon of the Brazilian editorial staff of RFI.
Last year, 469 people were arrested at Brazilian airports and around 80% of them were on their way to African countries.
Some of this drug that arrives on the African continent goes to the southern cone.
There is distribution in several countries.
Some of it is destined for other destinations, such as Asia, Europe and Oceania.
Today, African countries that have maintained direct flights to Brazil during the pandemic are therefore important for cocaine trafficking.
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To read also:
Record cocaine seizures in the French port of Le Havre
And Daniel Justo Madruga cites the example of Ethiopia: “
The Ethiopian airline having maintained its flights during the pandemic, it ended up becoming a hub for the distribution of this drug.
The flights go directly to Addis Ababa and from there they go to African countries or other destinations.
We can therefore say today that for Africa, Ethiopia is a fundamental country in this fight against trafficking, as well as other countries that have direct flights with Brazil such as Angola which has resumed its flights direct.
We focus and concentrate our efforts to combat trafficking on these countries.
Our spotlight is on them.
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Drug
Brazil
Coronavirus
Ethiopia