Trafficking of pills used by suicide bombers soars in Sahel

The UN has warned of a rise in trafficking of the synthetic opioid tramadol across West Africa, as one official revealed it is being found in the pockets of suicide bombers. Seizures of the drug have skyrocketed since 2013, from 300kg (660lb) to more than three tonnes a year, the UN’s Office on Drugs and […]

The UN has warned of a rise in trafficking of the synthetic opioid tramadol across West Africa, as one official revealed it is being found in the pockets of suicide bombers.

Seizures of the drug have skyrocketed since 2013, from 300kg (660lb) to more than three tonnes a year, the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said.

In September, three million pills in UN-logoed boxes were found in Niger. The opioid is known to be popular with Islamist militants Boko Haram.

The pills – which can be legally prescribed as painkillers – are thought to be used to calm the would-be attackers.

Some 600,000 pills bound for the group were seized on the Nigeria-Cameroon border in August.

Pierre Lapaque, the UNODC’s West and Central Africa representative, warned the situation could not be allowed to “get any further out of control”, as it continues to undermine global security. 

“Tramadol is regularly found in the pockets of suspects arrested for terrorism in the Sahel, or who have committed suicidal attack,” Mr Lapaque said.

“This raises the question of who provides the tablets to fighters from Boko Haram and al-Qaeda, including young boys and girls, preparing to commit suicide bombings.”