Southern Africa like many other regions finds itself facing significant challenges as far as drugs and crime is concerned. This is threatening to elevate us to the status of being a regional hub for these illicit and dangerous drug-related trafficking activities. There can be little doubt that, despite some great successes, the consumption of illicit drugs worldwide has reached alarming proportions. Today drug abuse is a global problem having broken out of well defined localized addict communities. This in fact is the situation for Southern Africa where even in the rural environment where traditional use of drugs for therapeutic, ritual or religious reasons has been replaced by socially detrimental abuse and drug addiction.

The increase in worldwide communication and the globalization of transport and trade, our fast developing infrastructure and the increase in the movement of people across our national borders also appear to have provided fertile ground for illicit drug trafficking and the spread of drug habits in the Region. The Region and other parts of the continent are increasingly being used to transship drugs and precursor chemicals. We have now unfortunately become part of this global phenomenon targeted by major international drug trafficking networks. Over the past few years these groups have integrated Southern Africa in their pre-existing networks linking the drug producing countries of Latin America (cocaine) and Asia (heroin) with the “traditional” cocaine and heroin consuming markets of Western Europe and North America.

We are seeing an exponential growth, a cocktail of different substances trafficked, harder drugs and bigger quantities, with trafficking organizations exploiting legitimate trade, opening front companies and laundering the proceeds of their criminal activities. Southern Africa, a producer and consumer region, is increasingly being used to transship drugs and precursor chemicals. Experience shows that transshipment countries tend to become user countries over time. The situation is such and quite advanced in Southern Africa with most consumption in our urban centers. Here again drug trafficking organizations have become major players in the local distribution and will continue trying to develop markets in the Region. The substantial increase in the arrests of drug couriers aboard, linked to crime groups in Southern Africa is indicative of this trend.