Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Lomé (Agenzia Fides) – Social concern is growing regarding the rate of drug consumption in Togo, one of the western African nations used as a stopping point in the trafficking of narcotics on their way to Europe.
The quantity of drugs arriving on the African coast is so high that there is now a local drug market established there. Another reason is due to the fact that the traffickers find it more convenient to pay the local network of assistance with cocaine and cannabis, rather than with money.
In the capital city of Lomé alone, there are at least 40 “ghettos” inhabited by over 3,500 local drug-addicts, registered by the humanitarian aid organizations. The age range of these people is from 8-40 years old and many are foreigners. The number of drug-addicts has rapidly risen in just a few years: in 2001, there were 2,000, 12 of whom died; in 2006, there were 3,000 and 68 died, and in 2007, there were 3,575 with 100 deaths. There is also a growing number of students who use drugs to stay awake and study for exams. The most widely-spread drug is cannabis, but cocaine is on the rise. The local health institutions are also facing the consequences: 42 percent of the psychiatric patients in hospitals are victims of drug abuse.
Five years ago, no person from Togo was involved in drug-trafficking. However, now there is an ever-growing number of Togo natives being arrested for trafficking, not only in Togo, but also outside the country, especially in Europe. There is also a growing number of foreigners being arrested in Togo for trafficking, generally passing through Togo, on their way elsewhere.
According to statistics from the from the National Anti-Drug Committee (the Comité National Anti-Drogue, or CNAD), in 2007, 584 traffickers were arrested in 2007 for drug trafficking. They were tried and sentenced to one to five years imprisonment. The drugs seized in Togo are burned. Just over 253 kilograms of drugs have been seized so far in 2008, of a total value of approximately $23.8 million dollars. This batch included 201 kg of cannabis, 50 kg of cocaine, one kilogram of heroin and a quantity of psychotropic substances. According to CNAD some 1.5 tons of cannabis, 37 kg of heroin, and 7 kg of cocaine were seized in 2005; 425 kg of cannabis, 37 kg of cocaine seized in 2006; and 702 kg of cannabis, 12 kg of heroin, and 59 kg of cocaine, in 2007. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 28/7/2008)
