General News of 2026-09-22
One-third of cocaine reaching Europe now comes through West Africa - Economist
An estimated one-third of cocaine reaching Europe now comes through West Africa, with Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria among the countries shown on a 2025 cocaine route map published by The Economist newspaper.
The map, titled “Cocaine flows through West Africa to Europe, 2025,” shows sea and land routes linking the region to Europe and credits the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC) as its source.
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The report, contained in an article about one of Europe’s most wanted criminals, Jos Leijdekkers, also known as Bolle Jos, and published on September 18, 2026, said the African connection has become increasingly important in the movement of cocaine to Europe over the past two decades.
According to The Economist, Latin American gangs in the mid-2000s began using fishing boats to move cocaine across the Atlantic to West Africa as they looked for new trafficking routes.
The drugs were then moved north through the Sahel by road or transported by trawlers towards the Mediterranean, with Guinea-Bissau initially a major entry point.
“The cargo would be hustled northwards by pickup through the Sahel or by trawler to the Mediterranean. At first the main entry point was the minuscule nation of Guinea-Bissau,” parts of the report read.
“Fast forward two decades and it is estimated that one-third of the cocaine reaching Europe now arrives via West Africa,” The Economist added.
The report said Guinea-Bissau has since been overtaken by Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Cape Verde, although the trafficking methods have largely remained the same.
Explaining how the drugs are allegedly moved, the report said cocaine is often kept in warehouses for months before being transported in small boats towards the Mediterranean.
Some shipments are taken to ports such as Marseille in France and Gioia Tauro in Italy, while others are delivered to remote beaches.
A customs analyst in Rotterdam told The Economist that cocaine trafficking is no longer mainly a problem for major northern European ports.
“The problem used to be Rotterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg. Now it’s the entire southern coast of Europe!,” the analyst said.
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The Economist report follows an interception of a 3.9-tonne cocaine shipment seized by French customs at the Port of Dunkirk and is said to be linked to Dutch national Jos Leijdekkers, also known as Bolle Jos.
The cocaine was reportedly concealed in a container carrying recycled plastic waste from Ghana and is estimated to have a street value of about €225 million.
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