Failed state. Coup-prone. Basket case. Guinea-Bissau now has another description: it is fast becoming Africa’s cocaine capital. It is a key storage and transportation hub in the onward journey of the white powder to new markets in South Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
Law enforcement is minimal and corruption acute. In the markets, soldiers exchange forex worth many times more than what they earn. And, last weekend, the country’s number one drug buster, Orlando Antonio da Silva, was sacked without official explanation.
Guinea-Bissau’s ruling classes and its coup-prone army reportedly are benefiting handsomely from the cocaine trade. Da Silva’s snooping threatened the big snort. He had worked doggedly, often without a car — until he bagged one in a drug raid — and had made several large cocaine seizures. But, instead of plaudits, he lost his job.
With precious little protection, a meagre salary and the prospect of seeing those you catch or convict liberated or escape within hours, being a policeman or a judge in Guinea-Bissau can be an inauspicious job at the best of times.
Throw in the money and the muscle of Colombian drug cartels and their local backers and it begins to look a lot worse. As we reported last week, two Colombians were caught red-handed last September with a car full of cocaine, estimated to have a street value of about $40million. The rare success — Guinea-Bissau’s biggest drug haul — fell apart when the two suspects were released within days and the drugs vanished.
Judges cited interference and the justice minister at the time called their release ”regrettable”.
Impoverished Guinea-Bissau is trying to fight against an influx of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Latin American cocaine, but experts say the battle is being undermined by state complicity, a weak police force and a justice system that cannot deal with criminals, even if they are caught.
Guinea-Bissau’s Minister of Justice, Carmelita Barbosa Pires, is under no illusions about how drastic the situation is. ”This is a crisis. We know there are serious problems with justice and things that must be done quickly,” she said.
The former Portuguese colony’s problems are as basic as not having a single prison. ”We just need a building to put people in. If there is no prison it is indicative of impunity,” said Pires.
Judges are concerned that, even if there was a building, they would come under pressure not to lock people up in it. ”Now they aren’t doing anything against the judges, but we know how organised crime works … if they want to kill us, what will stop them?” asked Ansumane Sanya, head of the Guinea-Bissau’s judges’ union.
And Da Silva’s sacking is likely to exacerbate the cheek-turning, which appears to be the official response to the booming cocaine trade.
Policemen often find themselves up against colleagues who are involved in the trade. ”There are people in the police and the security services who are giving protection to the drug trade,” said a drug control official, who did not want to be named.
Drug control experts believe that the army can demand up to $500 000 to secure a landing strip while cocaine is flown into the country. The navy turns a blind eye or even helps ship the drug out on to the high seas.
”There are always people who are trying to do something and there are always those who try to block it,” said Pires. The disappearing drugs and the accusations of state complicity have resulted in a ministerial commission on drugs. But it is already late in delivering its report and few expect radical results.
Local journalists have followed the boom in the trade from the initial drops of cocaine on remote islands off the coast to the highly developed network that is now in place. But reporting on it is dangerous. ”The pressure is clear. There have been threats made against us for speaking about it,” said Agnelo Regalo, the director of Radio Bombolom, an independent radio station in Bissau.
Several journalists have been jailed for reporting on the cocaine route. ”Now we fear that journalists who cover this might end up disappearing,” said Regalo.
The sight of soldiers changing money, obviously the fruits of corruption, is a symbol of obvious impunity. Why is it allowed to continue? Guinea-Bissau is highly unstable and coup-prone; analysts say the price of allowing the armed forces a few indiscretions is worth the relative stability.
In fact, this impunity might threaten greater instability. The amounts coming into the country indicate that it is being used as a regional stockpile, say experts. During a recent seizure, acetone, a product used to process cocaine, was found, suggesting labs are being set up in the country as well.
”My concern is that the drug trade might change the set-up of the economy,” said a diplomat. ”The country’s annual GDP is $290million. If you compare that to the billions that are coming through in drugs, it can’t compete.”