THE EAST AFRICAN region is an international hub in the supply chain for illicit drugs such as heroin and cocaine, according to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released last week.

More than 1,000kgs of heroine was seized in the region between March and May 2013 alone, figures by the UN body show. 

The biggest interception this year was in March when the Combined Maritime Forces captured 500kgs of heroine near the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar, while 317kgs were recovered from a ship some 118 kilometers off the Tanzanian coast in May. 

Apart from being major transit countries, there is suspicion that a growing number of Kenyans and Tanzanians are consuming the illicit drugs. UNODC estimates that cocaine worth $160 million is consumed in Kenya and Tanzanian annually. 

Rwanda National Police spokesman Damas Gatare said that due to stringent surveillance, the country remains largely free from cocaine and heroin with only one person arrested attempting to transit small quantity of heroine in the past.

UN investigators say that the current seizure of large quantities of illicit drugs may be an indication that they have been flowing into the region undetected. The 29-nation Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) stepped up surveillance since 2009. 

The report, titled: Transitional Organised Crime in Eastern Africa, says that there is evidence of a rise in the consumption in the region. 

"The alternative is that the flow has indeed increased, either due to growth in local demand or growth in the use of Eastern Africa as a transit area or both,” the report states. 

The UN says it is also possible that the latest wave of seizures in Kenya and Tanzania could be because traffickers may have shifted to East Africa due to disruptions on their traditional supply route to Europe (Pakistan-Iran-Turkey to southern Europe).

"The latest wave of seizures should attract international attention to the issue, but until the extent of transshipment can be ascertained, consumption within Eastern Africa remains the primary concern.”

How it comes

Most of the heroin entering the region is suspected to originate from Afghanistan. The UN says that it is transported to the Makran Coast, a strip of desert coastline that crosses from Pakistan to Iran along the coast of the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman. 

The Tanzanian port of Tanga has been the most preferred entry point, but increased vigilance at this port has made traffickers shift further south. Once in East Africa, the drugs are moved by road to main consumption and transit centres such as Dar es Salaam and Nairobi. More is said to move by road to South Africa. 

"South Africa has reported Eastern Africa as a key source of the heroin it receives. Nigeria has specifically pointed to Ethiopia (among other countries) as a country from whence heroin shipments arrive,” the UN report states.

According to the UN, the biggest seizure of cocaine was in 2004 when 701kgs were intercepted on an outbound cargo vessel near Malindi. The cocaine had been concealed in bananas cargo. Another 253 kg of cocaine were seized from a refrigerated container in a warehouse in Nairobi. It was suspected to have come from Colombia through Nigeria and was on transit to Europe. 

"All these transit flows have created a serious local usage problem in parts of Eastern Africa, especially along the coast in Mombasa, Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, and also in Nairobi… Injecting drug use is of particular concern, given the prevalence of blood-borne disease in the region,” the UN says.

The same report estimates that 22 tons of illicit drugs enter eastern Africa annually, and there are indications of growing consumption in the region. 

According to Gatare, Rwanda’s main problem in as far as drug abuse is concerned is cannabis that is mainly smuggled in from DR Congo and Tanzania.