22 Tonnes
of cocaine transits through West African ports every year.

“Over the period December 2014-March 2016, at least 22 tons of cocaine were seized en route from South America via West Africa to Europe, although most of those seizures took place outside Africa.”

source: World Drug Report, 2016

$1bn
is generated annually from the illicit tobacco trade in North Africa.

Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia consume 44% of black-market tobacco in Africa.

source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2009

60%
of migrants arriving in Europe via the Mediterranean Sea in 2014 passed through Libya.

The trafficking of people along Libya’s coast has become a major source of income for armed groups.

source: Frontex, 2015

10,000-20,000
firearms have made their way from Libya to the Sahel since 2011.

Post-Qaddafi Libya has become the main source of weapons for militant groups in the Sahel and North Africa.

source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2013

1.7m
bottles of alcohol were seized by Algerian police in 2014.

The prohibition against consuming or trading alcohol in Libya has led to a flourishing cross-border trade, with smugglers often transporting it to boost revenues from other commodities.

source: Algerian Gendarmerie, 2015

25%
of Algerian oil produced in 2013 was illegally exported.

Cheaply produced and subsidised oil from Algeria and Libya has flooded the region, resulting in a loss of government revenue.

source: Algerian Ministry of Interior, 2013