Africa is increasingly being used by criminal gangs as a hub for shipping Latin American cocaine and Asian heroin into Europe, a senior Spanish government official said Thursday.

Consumption of cocaine and hashish is also on the rise in Africa, Spanish secretary of state for security Antonio Camacho said in his closing address to a major international anti-drug conference.

"This is an issue which is very worrying because of its regional and global implications," he said.

 

 Shipped from North Africa - Intercepted in Spain

 

The issue was one of the focal points of the three-day International Drug Enforcement Conference which was hosted by the Spanish government and the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Washington´s top anti-narcotics agency.

Participants at the annual event said trafficking groups are taking advantage of weak governments in African nations as well as their cultural historical ties to Europe to smuggle drugs into the continent.

More than 300 law enforcement officials from over 80 nations took part in the conference, which is seen as an opportunity for anti-drug officials to share inteligence and jointly devise strategies to stop the global narcotics trade.

The event has been held each year since 1983. This was the first time that it has been held outside of the Americas.

Spain was selected to host the conference because it is the main gateway for Latin American cocaine and North African hashish into Europe and because it has set up a robust fight against drug trafficking, DEA officials said.

Spanish officials seized over 40 tons of cocaine last year, a record amount and more than any other nation in the world except for Colombia, the United States and Venezuela, Camacho said.

The International Drug Enforcement Conference will be held next year in Istanbul, Turkey.

http://www.africasia.com/

 

 

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