There has been a surge in cocaine trafficking
has transformed Guinea into West Africa's latest drug hot spot,
jeopardizing President Alpha Conde's efforts to rebuild state
institutions after a military coup and attract billion of
dollars in mining investment.
Locals and Latin Americans long-accused of smuggling are operating freely in the country, some with high-level protection from within Conde's administration, according to Guinean and international law enforcement officials and internal police reports seen by Reuters.
A lack of government figures makes estimating volumes tricky, but a foreign security source said one or two planes landed each month last year, ferrying in cocaine from Latin America mostly for smuggling to Europe.
"Whatever the attitude of the head of state, it's clear that traffickers can operate in Guinea.
They have deep roots there," said Stephen Ellis, researcher at the African Studies Centre, Leiden, in the Netherlands.
Ellis said drug money was having a corrosive effect on attempts by Conde's government to improve governance: "It's worrying because of the effects not just on the politics of Guinea, but the whole region."
A July 2013 report by Guinea's top anti-drugs agency, seen by Reuters, said traffickers were operating with protection of senior civilian, military and police officials. It said proceeds from the trade are laundered through various channels, including real estate, fishing companies and local mining operations.
Guinea and Guinea-Bissau are at the eastern end of "Highway 10", the nickname given by law enforcement officers for the 10th parallel north of the equator, the shortest route across the Atlantic, used by traffickers over the past decade to smuggle Latin American cocaine destined mainly for Europe.
United Nations experts estimated last year that some 20 tonnes of cocaine, mostly from Colombia and Venezuela, pass each year through West Africa, which became an attractive transit point as U.S. and European authorities cracked down on more direct routes.
"People are frightened to take the lid off Guinea," said one foreign official, who, like others interviewed for the story, declined to be identified. "Authorities know traffickers are there but are powerless to do anything. They need international help."
Part of the problem is that Col. Moussa Tiegboro Camara, Guinea's top anti-narcotics officer, has been accused of involvement in a massacre of protesters under the military junta in 2009, making it impossible for Western nations to cooperate with him.
At a conference in Abu Dhabi in November, Conde touted the country as "open for business" in a bid to woo Gulf investors. He won billions of dollars in mining investment.
Yet Conde faces a tough battle for re-election in 2015. He must also accomplish the delicate task of keeping in check the armed forces, implicated in trafficking.
"We are dealing with a government that lacks the most basic forms of governance ... If you are a narco, the conditions you would want are all here," said a second Western diplomat.
EU-Digest
Locals and Latin Americans long-accused of smuggling are operating freely in the country, some with high-level protection from within Conde's administration, according to Guinean and international law enforcement officials and internal police reports seen by Reuters.
A lack of government figures makes estimating volumes tricky, but a foreign security source said one or two planes landed each month last year, ferrying in cocaine from Latin America mostly for smuggling to Europe.
"Whatever the attitude of the head of state, it's clear that traffickers can operate in Guinea.
They have deep roots there," said Stephen Ellis, researcher at the African Studies Centre, Leiden, in the Netherlands.
Ellis said drug money was having a corrosive effect on attempts by Conde's government to improve governance: "It's worrying because of the effects not just on the politics of Guinea, but the whole region."
A July 2013 report by Guinea's top anti-drugs agency, seen by Reuters, said traffickers were operating with protection of senior civilian, military and police officials. It said proceeds from the trade are laundered through various channels, including real estate, fishing companies and local mining operations.
Guinea and Guinea-Bissau are at the eastern end of "Highway 10", the nickname given by law enforcement officers for the 10th parallel north of the equator, the shortest route across the Atlantic, used by traffickers over the past decade to smuggle Latin American cocaine destined mainly for Europe.
United Nations experts estimated last year that some 20 tonnes of cocaine, mostly from Colombia and Venezuela, pass each year through West Africa, which became an attractive transit point as U.S. and European authorities cracked down on more direct routes.
"People are frightened to take the lid off Guinea," said one foreign official, who, like others interviewed for the story, declined to be identified. "Authorities know traffickers are there but are powerless to do anything. They need international help."
Part of the problem is that Col. Moussa Tiegboro Camara, Guinea's top anti-narcotics officer, has been accused of involvement in a massacre of protesters under the military junta in 2009, making it impossible for Western nations to cooperate with him.
At a conference in Abu Dhabi in November, Conde touted the country as "open for business" in a bid to woo Gulf investors. He won billions of dollars in mining investment.
Yet Conde faces a tough battle for re-election in 2015. He must also accomplish the delicate task of keeping in check the armed forces, implicated in trafficking.
"We are dealing with a government that lacks the most basic forms of governance ... If you are a narco, the conditions you would want are all here," said a second Western diplomat.
EU-Digest
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