Cocaine is displayed to journalists after being seized by Guinea-Bissau's judicial police in the capital Bissau, March 21, 2012. REUTERS/Joe PenneyABIDJAN, June 27 (Reuters) - Opioid and cannabis abuse are above global averages in West and Central Africa, while cocaine trafficking through the region is financing militant violence in the Sahel, the United Nations said in a report on Monday. Growing instability in West Africa, a transit route for illegal drugs on their way from South America to Europe, has facilitated drug production and trafficking, generating revenue for armed groups, said the U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC). At least 57 tonnes of cocaine were seized in or en route to West Africa between 2019 and 2022, according to the UNODC, more than a third of which was found in Cape Verde. The findings were part of the UNODC's 2022 World Drug Report presented in Ivory Coast on Monday.

Source: The North Africa Journal June 27, 2022 21:15 UTC