Drug Ring Goes Global

To citizens, the words “drug cartel” usually connote the narcotic ring in Latin America. Despite the stigma, the drug business has relocated to an unexpected continent, Africa. To counteract the growing globalization of the drug cartel, the United States has started training officials in Ghana to combat the cartel’s increased presence in Africa to smuggle cocaine to Europe.

The U.S increased its involvement after realizing that shutdown of major countries, like Mexico, forced the cartel to relocate to smaller, inconspicuous countries.

“We see Africa as the new frontier in terms of counterterrorism and counternarcotics issues. It’s a place that we need to get ahead of — we’re already behind the curve in some ways, and we need to catch up,” said Jeffrey P. Breeden, the chief of the Drug Enforcement Administration’ s (DEA) Europe, Asia and Africa section to the New York Times.

            The U.S. plans to expand its efforts to Kenya and Nigeria. For more on the DEA’s efforts, check out the NYT’s coverage.