Guinea Bissau: A Narco State in Africa | PBS

Guinea Bissau: A Narco State in Africa | PBS

Frontline's interview with photojournalist Marco Vernaschi, who has recently returned from Guinea Bissau.

Russian Casinos To Find New Home in Balkans :: BalkanInsight.com

Several of the largest Russian casino owners plan to relocate to the Balkans after a Russian ban on gambling on the territory of the Russian Federation takes hold on July 1, the Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosti said Monday.

Casino gambling has a well known association with money laundering.

Classic Structure of Nigerian Drug Trade

Nigerian drug smugglers differ from what we see in The Godfather or the Sopranos, according to Stephen Ellis inWest Africa's International Drug Trade.

Ellis states the Nigerian structure is as follows:

1. Drug Baron. Needs three assets
   
   
   • Ability to buy drugs cheaply at the source.
     
   • Good contact in the receiving country.
     
   • Substantial supply of capital in receiving country
   
   
2. Striker, someone who can strike deals.
   
   • Typically works for several barons but is essentially self employed.
     
   • Has a high degree of logistical expertise.
     
   • Hires couriers.
   
   
3. Couriers or mules.
   • Mostly people in desperate need of money.
   • Do not know who drug baron they are actually working for is.
     
   
   

Ellis' article, in its main thrust, provides an historical background for West Africa's role in the drug trade. He emphasizes Nigeria's role although he also discusses West Africa's recent role as a transit point for bulk cocaine shipments to Europe.

UN: Cocaine Smuggling From West Africa Is Declining

According to UN statisticsthe of cocaine seized in Europe that had passed through Africa has declined greatly in 2009.

Apparently, this decline has resulted from less overall cocaine being smuggled from Africa and not because of more stealthy smuggling techniques.

And which begs the question: If through rapid OODA loops, cocaine smugglers no longer are using the West African route, then what route are they now using?

Cap and Trade Means More Localized Logistics

If Markey-Waxman energy legislation passed Friday by the House of Representatives becomes law, shippers will have to re-think their supply chains to reduce transportation usage.

Kosovar Albanian Gangsters in London

"Refugees" from Kosovo's struggle against Serbia now function as gangsters in London

Corruption Costs Italy More Than EUR60 Billion - Official

Corruption in Italy's public administration costs the country more than EUR60 billion a year

International Crisis Group: Guinea-Bissau: Beyond Rule of the Gun

The International Crisis Group presents in Guinea-Bissau: Beyond Rule of the Gun, a detailed, albeit confusing, description of political events in Guinea Bissau relating to the near-simultaneous March assassinations of its president and head of its army and the subsequent June killings of a leading presidential candidate and of another leading politician. The more deeply one looks into these events, the murkier they become.

However, the International Crisis Group is able to conclude that the military has played an unhealthy role in these events. Military reform is necessary for Guinea Bissau's political reform.

However, as the Crisis Group admits:

there is strong scepticism in the military that the reforms would provide sufficient guarantee for retired officers. Unless there are reasonable guarantees that they will have decent living conditions, the military will be reluctant to move forward on the reform proc-ess. A senior officer pointed to “the fear of being in a civilian life without a decent means of living”.57 The massive return to uniform of retired officers during the 1998-1999 conflict was motivated principally by a desire to earn a living. Any changes that do not address this issue are bound to be resisted not only by the military but also by the many who depend on the military for their livelihood.

Moreover, the amount of cocaine money flowing through Guinea Bissau, while not precisely known, dwarfs its GDP. The Crisis Group cites $2 billion as an estimate.

Recent West African history has featured impoverished youth joining militias headed by corrupt warlords seeking to profit from the region's commodities. Guinea Bissau's military and its relation to cocaine seems to fit into this pattern.

United Nations: "Seismic Shift" in Global Cocaine Market

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) World Drug Report 2009, states that drug trafficking routes are shifting:

The $50 billion global cocaine market is undergoing seismic shifts,' said Mr. Costa. 'Purity levels and seizures (in main consumer countries) are down, prices are up, and consumption patterns are in flux. This may help explain the gruesome upsurge of violence in countries like Mexico. In Central America, cartels are fighting for a shrinking market,' he said.

In West Africa, a decline in seizures seems to reflect lower cocaine flows after five years of rapid growth. 'International efforts are paying off,' said Mr. Costa. Yet drug-related violence and political instability continue, especially in Guinea-Bissau. 'As long as demand for drugs persists, weak countries will always be targeted by traffickers. If Europe really wants to help Africa, it should curb its appetite for cocaine,' said the UN's top drug control official.

In Europe, England is the largest market and has the second highest prevalence rate while Spain has the highest prevalence rate and is the second largest market. Italy and Germany are third and fourth, respectively.

Serbs in Northern Kosovo Continue to Oppose Border Checkpoints

Serbs in Northern Kosovo continue to oppose two checkpoints between Kosovo and Serbia proper.

On Monday and Tuesday, they established roadblocks on the roads leading to these two checkpoints and tried to prevent European Union officials from reaching them.

US Senate Foreign Relations Committee: Testimony of Yale Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Mike McGovern

Yale's Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Mike McGovern made three points while testifying about cocaine trafficking in West Africa before the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Tuesday:

• West Africa is a diverse plase; so a one-size-fits all solution will not work.
  
• Criminal drug networks often cross-fertilize with criminal networks engaged in other activities.
  
• Solutions need to address not only West African government's executive branches but also other branches, particularly the judicial.
  

Senate Foreign Affairs Committee: Testimony of Former DEA Assistant Adminstrator Michael Braun

According to Michael Braun, former Assistant Administrator and Chief of Operations with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and former Acting Chief of Intelligencethe threat posed by West Africa is growing while the United States' capacity to respond has declined.

He states that Europe is on the verge of a drug trafficking "catastrophe":

I see Europe today teetering on the brink of a drug trafficking and abuse catastrophe similar to the one our Nation faced about 30 years ago. If you need a visual on what I predict Europe is facing in the years to come, just picture Miami, Florida in the late 1970s, followed by the ‘crack’ cocaine epidemic that exploded all across our Nation in the 1980s. The bottom line—Latin American and Mexican drug lords currently face far less of a threat distributing their poison in Europe then they do in the United States, and there is far more to gain in the way of profits.

While West African gangs are becoming more sophisticated:

Local indigenous organized crime groups in Africa are as brutal, if not more so, than any in the world, but they have historically lacked the sophistication of global drug trafficking cartels and other transnational organized crime groups. However, they are now learning from the most advanced organized crime organizations in the world

and United States' resources have been diverted:

Many Department of Defense detection and monitoring (D&M) resources, as well as maritime interdiction resources, were moved out of Southern Command’s area of responsibility after the 9/11 attacks on our Nation, and these resources have never been fully recouped. These assets are responsible for identifying and interdicting drug loads moving by sea and air. Although Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-S) interdiction seizures have been nothing short of spectacular over the past few years, it is in large part due to our military working closer with federal law enforcement in the post 9/11 era. Needless to say, if Southern Command recovered those missing D&M and interdiction resources, the seizure numbers would be even greater, including the interdiction of drug loads destined for Europe via Africa.

US Senate Foreign Relations Committee: Testimony of Journalist Douglas Farah

While the penetration of cocaine into West Africa is a major issue, the United States needs to do more, journalist Douglas Farah testified to the United States Senate Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday:

The United States has already taken important steps to engage in this theater. Africom, the DEA and State Department each are devoting considerably more resources to drug issues in West Africa than they were a year or two ago. But by any measure it is not enough, and certainly has not slowed the flow of cocaine through the region. Compartmentalization, stove-piping of information and the continued focus on delimited geographic territories continue to hamper the effectiveness of counter drug programs. It is no longer a useful model to look at the old, static model of Latin American drug trafficking organizations because the new organizations operate on multiple continents rather than a single country or region. Hence, information sharing across regions and across U.S. government agencies is vital to beginning to significantly improve the situation.

US Senate Foreign Affairs Committe Testimony: DEA

According to Thomas Harrigan, the Drug Enforcement Administration's Chief of Operations,while testifying before the US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee about drug trafficking in West Africa Object) stated that drug trafficking in Africa impacts the United States and may have links to terrorism:

The cocaine, heroin, chemical, money laundering, and narco-terrorism threats in Africa have an impact on the U.S., particularly since some of the drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) that smuggle illicit drugs in the U.S. are the same as those using Africa as a base of operations for smuggling operations into Europe and the Middle East

He added:

Since 2006, DEA investigations and intelligence collection initiatives indicate sub-Saharan Africa has become a major transshipment location for precursor chemicals destined for the Americas.

. Khat also ultimately reaches the US from Africa, he added.

His comments about terrorism were vague:

The threat of narco-terrorism in Africa is a real concern.... The transportation, money laundering and logistical infrastructures utilized by DTOs in Africa are vulnerable, wittingly or unwittingly, for use by terrorist organizations.

His specifics few and sketchy, however:including

• AQIM, Al Qaeda's Saharan operation could be involved.
  
• FARC, the Columbian guerrillas may be involved.
  
• Various insurgent, anti-government groups exist

Like DOD and State, DEA has few resources to address the West African cocaine surge, he said:

DEA alone does not have the resources or
authorities to implement parts of our Strategic Concept for Africa.

Senate Foreign Relations Testimony: DOD

Although, according to William Wechsler
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Office of Counternarcotics and Global Threats, cocaine trafficking in West Africa has been a major and growing issue since 2005, we have yet to get inside the traffickers' OODA loops:

In conclusion, we are still discovering the scope of the problem in West Africa, and are in the process of building a complete picture and comprehensive plan to assist West African countries in becoming capable partners against drug trafficking organizations.

Specific actions DOD has taken so far include:

• AFRICOM CNT sponsorship of students from multiple West African nations on Africa Partnership Station to attend courses taught by US Coast Guard Trainers.
  
• Construction of a pier and refueling facility to extend the range of the Senegalese Navy.
  
• Supported the establishment of Cape Verde Maritime Security Interagency Operations Center, which is an interagency fusion center that will help to develop the regional intelligence picture and communications with US organizations like JIATF-S and the MAOC in Lisbon.
  
• Construction of a climate controlled facility at the international airport at Accra, Ghana to screen passengers suspected of swallowing drugs.
  
• Collaborating with 6th Fleet to construct a boat facility in Ghana to support Defender Class boats that were provided by the US.
  
• Supporting the training or the future Liberia Coast Guard Commander and Deputy Commander at the International Maritime Officer’s Course at the USCG training facility in Yorktown, VA

Senate Foreign Relations Committe Hearings: State Department Testimony About West African Cocaine Traffic

According to Assistant Secretary Johnnie Carson,Bureau of African Affairs, U.S. Department of State, while testifying Tuesday before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee:

West Africa is appealing to traffickers for several reasons. It has endured a staggering level of poverty, which promotes a susceptibility to corruption: on average, 50% of the population lives on less than $2 a day. West Africa lies in close proximity to Latin America. Dakar, Senegal, is 700 miles closer to Recife, Brazil, than it is to Paris, France. West Africa’s borders also are mostly unguarded and porous. The region boasts more than 2,600 miles of coastline. In perspective, our Pacific coast (minus Alaska) and Atlantic coast each are less than 2,100 miles long. West Africa’s area and population are slightly less than that of our contiguous 48 states. Many governments do not have the legal systems, judicial structures, plans, funding, resources, and political will to combat drugs. Half the region’s population is under the age of 18 and the unemployment rate of the work-age population average is 30-50%. Thus, the trafficking of illegal narcotics is a lucrative alternative in a culture disposed to view narcotics like any other commodity to buy and sell.

According to Carson, billions of dollars worth of cocaine are now smuggled through Guinea Bissau alone:

Guinea-Bissau’s GDP is $340 million; that is the wholesale value of six tons of cocaine, which can easily be trans-shipped over one to two months. This creates a threat to good governance, local and regional stability, and development in West Africa. UNODC has noted that,

“The relationship between diamond smuggling and the civil wars in Sierra Leone and Liberia has been well documented, but, at their peak, profits accruing from this activity amounted to some tens of millions of dollars per year. The potential destabilizing influence of the cocaine traffic, where the value of a single consignment can exceed that sum, is very real.”

In the face of this onslaught, Carson proposes the United States respond with perhaps two cents worth of assistance for every dollar's worth of cocaine trafficked through West Africa:

For Fiscal Year 2010, the Department has requested $7.96 million in narcotics and law enforcement assistance for West Africa.

Breakdown:

• Guinea-Bissau ($3 million)
  
• Cape Verde ($2 million)
  
• Nigeria ($2 million)
  
• Ghana ($500,000)
  
• Sierra Leone ($250,000)
  
• Guinea ($110,000)
  
• Burkina Faso ($100,000).

"To complement these efforts, we propose applying $42.4 million in other Department resources to bolster democracy, governance, and rule of law programs in these countries," Carson adds.

U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearings on West Africa

The US Senate committee on Foreign Relations held a hearing on "Confronting Drug Trafficking in West Africa" on Tuesday.

Witnesses:

Panel 1:

• The Honorable Johnnie Carson
  Assistant Secretary for African Affairs
  Department of State
  Washington, DC
  
• William Wechsler
  Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for
  Counternarcotics and Global Threats
  Department of Defense
  Washington, DC
  
• Thomas M. Harrigan
  Chief of Operations
  Drug Enforcement Administration
  Washington, DC

Panel 2:

• Douglas Farah
  Senior Fellow
  International Assessment & Strategy Center
  Takoma Park, MD
  
• Michael Braun
  Managing Partner
  Spectre Group International
  Alexandria, Virginia
  
• Michael McGovern
  Assistant Professor of Anthropology
  Yale University
  New Haven, CT

Detailed blogging on each witness's testimony will follow.

Albanian Organized Crime

An isolated society with very firm beliefs in issues of honor and manhood pride coupled with severe social problems and a culture of vendetta; has been transformed into a huge international crime network.

This report describes Albanian organized crime, which distributes approximately 80% of Europe's heroin, which comes from Afghanistan. Besides providing general details, it describes the close interconnection between drug dealing, on the one hand, and human trafficking, on the other.

Increasingly, Albanian organized crime is distributing not only heroin, but cocaine as well.

Allianz - Allianz piracy study highlights how ship-owners can respond to increased risk.

Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS), a leading insurer of ships and cargo, has released a study suggesting its clients adapt their approach to marine insurance as the threat of piracy off the Horn of Africa continues to grow. In addition, the study points out that crews entering dangerous waters must be prepared to handle an attack, and it calls for a more coordinated solution to the current wave of piracy.


In a study released today entitled “Piracy: An ancient risk with modern faces”, AGCS suggests that special ‘war’ insurance policies should be used to meet the needs of ships in high risk areas. AGCS also identifies a number of practical responses that crews can take when passing through piracy zones, and the study also points out that whilst piracy may be on the rise off Somalia and other parts of Africa, it is declining in other areas, but still poses a real threat to shipping and trade. “Anybody who has been involved with actual pirates knows the grim reality they live in and the damage they can inflict,” states AGCS Global Marine Head Arthur E. Moossmann.
Currently many vessels are insured for piracy as part of their standard ‘hull and machinery’ insurance policies, which are not specifically designed to address security-related risks such as piracy. This means that some ship-owners are paying for piracy coverage when they do not need it because they are not sailing through piracy zones. So-called ‘war’ insurance provides special cover for ships exposed to piracy risks on a ‘per transit’ basis, meaning that it can be specifically underwritten to handle various exposures besides damage to the vessel and therefore can be priced more flexibly.
“There are a lot of shipping companies out there that are paying for piracy cover that do not need it as part of their hull and machinery policies,” explains Dr. Sven Gerhard, Global Hull and Liabilities Product Leader at AGCS. “Conversely, there are a lot of vessels that are exposed to high levels of piracy risk because of the routes they travel that – under current underwriting – cannot arrange more flexible, individually suited piracy coverage because it could be part of their general hull and machinery policies.”
AGCS covers around 12% of the roughly 30,000 tankers, container ships, bulker carriers and cargo ships insured globally. In addition to insurance issues, the carrier also explains why ships’ crews themselves need to be aware of the risks and how best to prepare for them. To match pirates’ tactics, boat crews need to be properly trained to employ defenses, such as long-range acoustic devices, securing the ship’s perimeter and maintaining speed in exposed areas, although they are strongly cautioned not to use weapons.

Key points from the study
The study looks at general piracy trends today, piracy hotspots, insurance solutions, modern piracy methods and risk mitigation. It provides a variety of sources as well as insights from Allianz experts from every part of the Marine insurance industry who have had first-hand experience with piracy cases.

* Most of the attention today is on the rise of piracy off the coast of Somalia and around the Gulf of Aden. 102 pirate attacks were reported here in the first quarter of 2009, compared to 53 in 2008. Somalia and the Gulf of Aden accounted for 61 of the total – up from 6 in 2008. Somalia is suffering from nearly 20 years of violent civil war, and its people live on an average of less than $2 a day. The causes of piracy there are so complex that the current problem is likely to continue for some time, and it is critical that ships passing through the region are well prepared and properly insured.
* The region is ideal for piracy because the Gulf of Aden is the gateway to the Suez Canal, and some 20,000 tankers, freighters and merchant ships pass through it every year. Pirates are now ranging farther and farther out to sea, attacking ships off the coast of neighboring countries such as Yemen, and their impact on global shipping is growing.
* The waters off Nigeria have also shown an increase in recent years, especially in the region off Lagos and the Bonny River, with 40 reported attacks in 2008 (Source: ICC – International Maritime Bureau). It is one of a few regions which are in danger of becoming a larger piracy hotspot.
* Piracy has generally shown a declining trend in other areas such as Southeast Asia, often due to a concentrated international response.
* The identification of pirates is often difficult, due to their use of small motor skiffs, which are hard to see on radar and can be mistaken for fishing craft. Therefore, reported data on piracy may be less than in reality.
* What works to reduce piracy in one region may not work in others. An international patrol effort has done a great deal to reduce attacks in the Malacca Straits. In the Indian Ocean off Somalia, however, the area of water is simply too vast to police, so military patrols only help a little and may even escalate violence. Therefore, a solution to the current wave of piracy will need a more integrated military, political and economic effort.
* The paper calls for a larger international effort to tackle the root causes of the current wave of piracy off the coast of Somalia and around the Gulf of Aden: poverty and violence on the mainland.


About Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty
Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty is the Allianz Group’s dedicated carrier for corporate and specialty insurance customers. The company provides insurance and risk management consultancy across the whole spectrum of Marine, Aviation and Corporate business, including Energy, Engineering, Financial Lines (incl. D&O), Liability and Property insurance, including International Insurance Programs. See the Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty website http://www.agcs.allianz.com for further details.
Worldwide, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty operates in over 70 countries through the Allianz Group network. It employs more than 2,500 people and provides insurance solutions to more than half of the Fortune Global 500 companies, writing a total of €2.9 billion gross premium annually (2008).

Lloyds: "Piracy Tax" to Affect Shipping

Accrding to Lloyds of London, increased piracy will amount to a piracy tax on shipping.

According to Lloyds, not only will Somali piracy persist and grow, but it will be copied elsewhere.