12 December - Speaking at the Security Council on 12 December, UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa said that "Guinea-Bissau has lost control of its territory and can not administer justice". The police and justice system are completely overwhelmed and ill-equipped to deal with the threat posed by foreign criminal groups colluding with powerful local allies. [Full Text of the Press Release]
A report issued this week by UNODC titled: Cocaine Trafficking in West Africa: the threat to stability and development warns that West Africa has become a hub for cocaine trafficking from South America to Europe. [Full Report] (PDF)
In April 2007, UNODC staff along with Goodwill Ambassador Alessandro Scotti witnessed a seizure of more than 600 kilos of cocaine that had been trafficked through Guinea-Bissau. The slide show below, accompanied by an interview with the Chief of the UNODC Anti-Trafficking Section, Brian Taylor, clearly illustrates the situation in West Africa.