AFRICA/ANGOLA - Drug alert in Luanda: “cocaine is consumed in almost all of Luanda's nightclubs”

Luanda (Agenzia Fides) – There has been a cocaine alert in Luanda, the capital of Angola. According to statistics presented by the national police headquarters in the Angolan capital, the number of cocaine users has increased remarkably in recent years.
As reported by the Catholic newspaper "Apostolado", the investigators revealed that most consumers buy drugs in nightclubs, mostly located in the urban area.
"In most clubs in Luanda, we have made several arrests and a few seizures, as well as in the adjacent areas to these clubs," said a police spokesman in the capital of Angola. "Cocaine is consumed in almost all of Luanda's nightclubs," explained the spokesman.
The officer also expressed concern about the involvement of many women engaged in negotiating the trafficking, mostly in exchange for a financial return.
"We are talking about women who run the businesses at the same time. They buy goods in Brazil to sell in Angola, in order to hide the drugs." The majority of the drugs come from the Brazilian states of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
According to official data, between January and May 2010, 40 kilograms of cocaine and 35 kilograms of cannabis were seized at the International Airport in the capital, where police have intensified surveillance services. 22 traffickers, both Angolans and foreigners, were arrested.
Angola, after the northernmost West African countries (like Guinea Bissau, another Portuguese-speaking country), is increasingly used as a gateway for loads of cocaine destined for Europe. Part of the cocaine is sold on the local market, however. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 06/09/2010)