TIDES CHANGING The evolving illicit drug trade in the western Indian Ocean
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POLITICAL ECONOMY ANALYSIS
CHANGING
TIDES
The evolving illicit drug trade in
the western Indian Ocean
LUCIA BIRD | JULIA STANYARD
VEL MOONIEN | RIANA RAYMONDE RANDRIANARISOA
JUNE 2021
CHANGING
TIDES
The evolving illicit drug trade in
the western Indian Ocean
Lucia Bird | Julia Stanyard
Vel Moonien | Riana Raymonde Randrianarisoa
June 2021
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost we would like to acknowledge the input of the full research team across the islands, without whose perseverance and hard work – especially during the COVID-19 pandemic – this report could not have been completed. This includes, but is not limited to, Sebastien Gignoux, Noura Sahimi and Georges Nicette. Their dedica- tion to the research in difficult circumstances has been remarkable. We also wish to acknowledge the input of everyone who was generous enough to participate in the research as interviewees and survey participants, particularly the many people who use drugs whose input has formed a crucial part of the research. We would also like to rec- ognize the input of the many experts consulted as well as the support and information provided by law enforcement bodies and government institutions. Finally, we are grateful to many on the GI-TOC team. Thanks to the Publications team and Elné Potgieter and Liezel Bohdanowicz for producing the maps and graphics. Thanks also go to Julian Rademeyer and Jason Eligh for their support throughout the research. © 2021 Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the Global Initiative. Cover: © Pedro Ferrão Patrício/Alamy Design: Elné Potgieter Cartography: Liezel Bohdanowicz Please direct inquiries to: The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime Avenue de France 23 Geneva, CH-1202 Switzerland www.globalinitiative.net
CONTENTS
Abbreviations and acronyms���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������v
Executive summary���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� vi
Methodology������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������6
Survey of regional markets by drug type����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 7
Heroin������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������9
New psychoactive substances������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 17
Cocaine������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 21
Cannabis����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 24
Market characteristics������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 30
Drug trafficking networks in the Indian Ocean islands����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 31
Violence������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 34
Corruption and protection structures����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 36
Impacts����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 37
Cultural change����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 38
Public health���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 40
Drugs and democracy: the erosion of institutional governance������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 43
Responses����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 46
Policing the Indian Ocean: a crowded space������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 47
Islands’ responses to drug trafficking������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 49
Looking forwards������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 52
Recommendations����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 54
Notes������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 58Dhows
in the old harbour of Mahajanga, Madagascar. Sources report that Madagascar-produced cannabis is transported
to the Comoros archipelago via Mahajanga. © Ariadne Van Zandbergen / Alamy Stock PhotoABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS
ADSU Anti-Drug Smuggling Unit, Mauritius
AIS Automatic Identification System
ANB Anti-Narcotics Bureau, the Seychelles
APDAR Agency for the Prevention of Drug Abuse and Rehabilitation, the Seychelles
CTF 150 Combined Task Force 150
FATF Financial Action Task Force
FSL Forensic Science Laboratory, Mauritius
GI-TOC Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
HIV human immunodeficiency virus
MGA Malagasy ariary
MSM Militant Socialist Movement
MUR Mauritian rupee
NPS new psychoactive substances
SCR Seychelles rupee
PWUD people who use drugs
PWID people who inject drugs
UN United Nations
UNODC United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
vEXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
An anti-drug message daubs a wall in Mahe island, the largest in the Seychelles. A sharp rise in heroin use in the past
decade means that, today the Seychelles has some of the highest rates of heroin use in the world, equivalent to nearly
10% of the national workforce. © Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images
viT
he islands of the western Indian Ocean have been drastically impacted
by illicit drug markets. Positioned between Africa and Asia, these island
states have been affected by shifts in drug production and trafficking on
both continents, while forming a distinct and unique inter-island drug trafficking
ecosystem. Significant changes are under way in this ecosystem, with increasing
volume and diversity of illegal drugs being trafficked to and between the islands.
While the dynamics of drug markets are shaped by a range of domestic political and
economic factors, all the islands (namely Mauritius, the Seychelles, Madagascar, the
Comoros and the French Overseas Territories of Mayotte and Réunion), are rendered
vulnerable by their proximity to a major heroin trafficking route and growing regional
methamphetamine and cocaine routes.
The ongoing prominence of the ‘southern route’, where heroin cultivated in
Afghanistan is trafficked via East and southern Africa to end markets in Europe
and the United States, has meant that increasing volumes of heroin are being
trafficked through the western Indian Ocean. This has shaped a secondary flow of
heroin to Mauritius and the Seychelles, and had a dramatic impact on these small
island nations. Mauritius and the Seychelles are home to deeply entrenched heroin
markets, and the Seychelles is estimated to have the highest per capita rate of heroin
consumption in the world.
High demand for heroin in both Mauritius and the Seychelles, together with changes
occurring on the East African seaboard, is in turn fuelling Madagascar’s emergence as
a ‘plaque tournante’1 – a turning point in regional, and to a lesser extent global, drug
trafficking routes. Rendered vulnerable by both its geography and weaknesses in its
governance, Madagascar is being pushed into an unwelcome position of prominence
in regional drug markets. Already ill equipped to handle the impacts of spiralling
drug consumption, twin disasters in 2020 further diminished available resources:
Madagascar experienced its worst drought in a decade and fell into economic
recession due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Since 2015, drugs trafficking to and through the western Indian Ocean Islands
has not only materially increased but also diversified. Long-standing heroin flows
have been joined by a flood of synthetic cannabinoids, which have fundamentally
disrupted drug markets in Mauritius, Mayotte and the Comoros. Meanwhile, record-
breaking cocaine production in Latin America and spiralling demand in Europe and
Australia have combined to supercharge global cocaine trafficking routes, 2 with
significant impacts for the region. GI-TOC research in 2019 tracked growing volumes
of cocaine being trafficked to the East African seaboard in containers from Latin
America,3 and our research found use and trafficking of cocaine to be on the rise in
several of the islands.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1Corruption is Most recently, GI-TOC research in 2020 identified Afghan-produced
methamphetamine being trafficked with heroin along the ‘southern route’.4 In the
arguably the single Seychelles, health authorities recently detected methamphetamine use for the first
most significant time, and people who use drugs (PWUD) reported that the drug was increasingly
available.5 Although seizure levels across the islands are low in comparison with
factor underpinning
other drugs, there are indications that meth consumption may rise in future.6
the growth of Methamphetamines were not the focus of this research, and warrant further scrutiny
drug markets across the islands.
in the western Corruption is arguably the single most significant factor underpinning the growth of
drug markets in the western Indian Ocean. Drug markets enjoy a degree of protection
Indian Ocean. across the islands, although this is far more limited in the French Overseas Territories of
Réunion and Mayotte. In Madagascar and the Comoros, drug markets are one of many
illicit markets facilitated by corrupt elements of state institutions, while drugs are the
major criminal economy in the Seychelles and Mauritius, and therefore stand out as a
unique driver of corruption. The impact of drug-fuelled corruption on the democratic
and criminal justice infrastructure of these two islands constitutes the biggest obstacle
to an effective response, especially as the factors which have made Mauritius and the
Seychelles attractive to trafficking networks – comparatively high spending power, high
air and maritime connectivity and convenient proximity to a major international drug
trafficking route – remain unchanged.
The western Indian Ocean Islands are often neglected in studies of the African
continent, seen as too ‘different’ for effective comparison.7 Perhaps in part because
of this, Madagascar’s emergence as a significant drugs transhipment hub has received
limited attention to date. Yet as argued above, the region is closely connected to the
illicit dynamics on the mainland.
This research aims to shed light on the political economy of drug trafficking in the
western Indian Ocean island states. This report not only describes the changing
drugs flows and trafficking routes, but also explores how drug networks operate in
the island states and the implications of the drug markets for the political economy of
the islands.
2 CHANGING TIDESSummary of drug market dynamics in the Indian Ocean islands
ROLE IN PROTECTION
ISLAND DRUG USE TRAFFICKING DRUG MARKET DYNAMICS OF DRUGS POLICY RESPONSES
ROUTES MARKETS
Seychelles The Seychelles The Seychelles Imports of heroin and other drugs to the Widespread The Seychelles has made
reports some is a destination Seychelles are reportedly controlled by a corruption of law significant policy shifts
of the highest market for heroin, small number of individuals who supply enforcement in towards a more health-
levels of heroin cannabis and, to numerous domestic distribution networks. the Seychelles based approach to managing
use in the world, a lesser extent, Domestic networks are Seychellois- reportedly rising drug use, including the
at around 5% cocaine. Our dominated and drugs are sold through protects drug- introduction of a widespread
of the country’s research found several intermediaries before reaching trafficking methadone substitution
population. that the island PWUD. markets. programme. The country
Since the latest state does not This includes has recently been listed by
government-led serve as a transit Drugs trafficking networks are reportedly protection of the EU as a non-cooperative
estimates of the country for drugs benefiting from growing community street-level drug jurisdiction for tax purposes,
heroin-using either to other support and legitimacy in the Seychelles, dealing as well at least partially connected
population in 2018, Indian Ocean as traffickers are increasingly seen as as higher-level to issues of drug-related
use has reportedly island states, or ‘entrepreneurial’ Robin Hood-esque protection within money laundering. Capacity
continued to rise. globally. figures. Demand for heroin has risen the police force. to investigate drugs-related
Cocaine use is low significantly in recent years and new illicit money laundering is limited.
but reportedly entrepreneurs have moved into the heroin
rising. market.
Low levels of violence relating to
drugs markets are reported in the
Seychelles. However, some violence and
disappearances related to drug trafficking
were reported in interviews with PWUD.
Proceeds from drug trafficking are
laundered through cash-intensive
businesses in the Seychelles such as car
hire businesses and real estate deals,
as well as businesses which rely on the
exchange of foreign currency.
Mauritius Heroin use has Mauritius is A small number of long-standing wholesale Mauritius’ drugs Since 2006 the Mauritian
a long history in a destination heroin importers operate alongside a market reportedly government has adopted
Mauritius. The market for larger number of networks in coordinating enjoys significant a strong public health
island has some synthetic imports. Synthetic cannabinoids are protection from response, including
of the highest cannabinoids, imported by a significant number state institutions, widespread methadone
rates of heroin heroin, cannabis of players. The numerous domestic and widespread substitution programme
consumption in and, to a far distribution networks typically sell a range corruption and needle exchange
the world, and lesser extent, of drugs, including synthetic cannabinoids across state clinics. This sits alongside a
use is reportedly cocaine. Our and cannabis. criminal justice predominantly prohibitionist
rising. Synthetic research found and security approach to drugs. The
cannabinoids are that the island Drug trafficking presents a key money infrastructure Government launched
reportedly the state does not laundering risk to Mauritius. Proceeds from was perceived a 2015 commission of
most consumed serve as a transit drug trafficking are laundered through by stakeholders inquiry into the drugs trade;
drug type on country for drugs cash-intensive businesses, including fast to be pivotal to interviewees expressed
the island, and either to other food restaurants, casinos and car wash operations. frustration that many of
consumption Indian Ocean outlets. the recommendations
has accelerated island states, or published in 2018 remain
since 2013. globally. Drug-related violence is rare. Mauritius’ unimplemented. The 2019
Cannabis use is long-standing drugs market is interwoven grey-listing of Mauritius
widespread, while into the informal economy of the island. by FATF was partly due to
use of cocaine and Many networks and kingpins enjoy support weaknesses in addressing
psychotropic pills is from local communities drug-related money
less common. laundering. Bolstering follow
the money approaches is a
priority.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3PROTECTION
ROLE IN TRAFFICKING DRUG MARKET
ISLAND DRUG USE OF DRUGS POLICY RESPONSES
ROUTES DYNAMICS
MARKETS
Comoros Heroin use in The Comoros is not a Illicit drugs networks in Drugs networks, Beyond law enforcement
the Comoros is major destination or transit the Comoros primarily like other illicit operations (weakened
low, as it remains market for heroin trafficked comprise importers – largely markets on the through corruption), the
unaffordable to many through the Indian Ocean. Tanzanian and Malagasy Comoros, are response to drugs markets
Comorians. Use of Heroin reaching the islands nationals – intermediaries reportedly broadly has been limited, with scarce
chimique, as synthetic is predominantly from who coordinate the facilitated by state public health provision and
cannabinoids are Tanzania, and to a lesser domestic market and low- infrastructure. outdated legal frameworks.
known in the islands, extent Madagascar. Cannabis level domestic distribution This includes the
has been growing is also imported from both networks. PWUD and dealers use of profits from
rapidly since 2017. these countries. Chimique is reported that well-protected the drugs trade to
produced on the islands from ‘bosses’ enjoy a long-standing finance election
precursors imported from role at the high levels of the campaigns
China, via Mayotte. Comorian market. Drug- and endemic
related violence is rare. corruption among
law enforcement.
Mayotte Chimique is the most Mayotte is not a major The chimique market There have been The surge in chimique use
widely-consumed destination or transit market presents low barriers to entry a small number has driven drugs up the
drug in Mayotte and for heroin trafficked through because the precursors are of customs and political agenda in Mayotte.
use has been rising the Indian Ocean. Chimique readily available by online law enforcement The response has combined
sharply since 2011. is produced on the islands routes from producers officials arrested law enforcement approaches
Heroin and cocaine from precursors imported in China. This has led to in connection with with a focus on addressing
use is limited and from China, and cannabis the creation of new drugs drug trafficking, chimique as a public health
isolated to wealthier is primarily imported from networks operating in but these appear concern, including on
communities. Madagascar by sea, often via Mayotte. Importers of to be instances preventative trainings and
Anjouan island. cannabis and synthetics – of low level rehabilitation.
the two most commonly corruption on an
consumed drugs – are individual rather
distinct, though domestic than systemic
distribution networks basis.
overlap.
Widespread coverage of
the public health impacts of
chimique have created stigma
around use and involvement
in the trade. Street dealing in
chimique is associated with
groups of irregular migrants,
who suffer from high levels
of anti-migrant sentiment.
4 CHANGING TIDESROLE IN PROTECTION
ISLAND DRUG USE TRAFFICKING DRUG MARKET DYNAMICS OF DRUGS POLICY RESPONSES
ROUTES MARKETS
Réunion Réunion’s drugs Réunion, uniquely of the A significant proportion of Although The increase in drugs
landscape has Indian Ocean islands, drugs imported into Réunion are corruption among trafficking has prompted
diversified and grown, primarily imports drugs purchased online by individuals state institutions is growing state focus on
with increasing by post and air from and imported by post - this recognised to exist, illicit drug consumption
demand for cocaine, mainland France. It is presents extremely low barriers it is reportedly and trafficking.
LSD, cannabis not a major trafficking to entry. The drugs market is low, and public Coordinated law
resin, prescription transit or destination small, and drugs-related violence confidence in the enforcement responses
medicines and market for heroin. is not widely reported. organs of the state have reportedly been
ecstasy, and a Réunion exports correspondingly successful in the past
small but growing cannabis to Mauritius. Investigations have dismantled high. at countering flows of
flow of synthetic some small Europe-based methamphetamines and
cannabinoids. networks. Although some heroin to Réunion.
However, domestic stakeholders suggest increasing
heroin use is sophistication, networks remain
extremely low. small-scale.
Madagascar Heroin use in Madagascar is primarily The Malagasy drugs market is Interviewees did The Malagasy
Madagascar is far a transit market for reportedly centralized among a not report high- government’s approach
lower than other heroin being trafficked small number of major traffickers level corruption to countering drug
Indian Ocean island to other Indian Ocean who direct networks from among government trafficking and use is
states such as island states and Antananarivo. Interviews suggest officials as has strongly skewed towards
Mauritius and the globally. It is also, to these few, major figures have been reported in supply-reduction
Seychelles. However, a lesser extent but dominated the market for several investigations of approaches, and harm
heroin use is rising increasingly, a transit years. These trafficking networks other illicit markets reduction and health-
sharply, particularly market for cocaine. are not specialized in particular in Madagascar, based responses
in urban centres. Madagascar is a drug types but work in heroin, such as rosewood. to drug use are not
Cocaine use is significant producer cocaine and methamphetamines, However, widely practiced. Law
far lower but also of cannabis, most of cooperating with overseas widespread enforcement agencies
increasing. Cannabis, which is consumed networks for international trade corruption in in Madagascar reported
which has long been domestically while some and with lower-level localized law enforcement that cooperation
grown domestically, is is exported to the other drugs networks to service the was reported, between different
widely used. island states. domestic market. The cannabis and interviewees agencies is hindered by a
markets are distinct. argued that the lack of mutual trust and
weakening of the suspicions of corruption.
Levels of drug market violence Malagasy state
are reportedly low. Interviewees through corruption
in Antananarivo and Nosy and other forms
Be reported that trafficking of organised crime
networks in certain urban areas has left the country
receive support from their vulnerable to
communities. Violence is more exploitation by drug
associated with the cannabis trafficking groups.
market, where players are often
armed.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5Methodology
This study draws on extensive semi-structured interviews and field research conducted
by a team of specialist researchers across the island states – in Mauritius, Madagascar,
the Comoros, Seychelles and Réunion – throughout 2020.8 The interviews encom-
passed a range of individuals whose professional and personal roles provide insight into
the drugs market, as shown in the graph below. In Mayotte, in part due to challenges
caused by the pandemic, research was conducted through remote interviews alone.
Field research was supplemented by remote interviews conducted with stakeholders
across the islands and a range of international analysts with expertise in the region,
together with an extensive review of open-source literature, data and reporting on
drug markets.
Surveys of drug markets and street-level drug pricing were also conducted. These
surveys were based on data shared by PWUD, using methodologies that the GI-TOC
has developed to examine the dynamics of illegal economies more broadly.9 They iden-
tified the retail price (i.e. street price) for different drug types in a given market location,
and collected information on factors that influence variations in retail price within a
particular market. These surveys help build quantitative data on drugs markets and
supplement the qualitative interviews. For the purposes of cross-market comparison,
drug prices have been converted into euros (using exchange rates from the time of data
collection), with the local currency given after.
Civil
society
Criminal
justice
PWUD
Comoros
19
Government
official
Seychelles Public health 54 19
professional
11
37 17
Réunion Breakdown
9 by role 4
7
10 2
Geographical
8 24
80
Regional breakdown
9 Private
sector 58 International
organization
Market
participant Journalist
58
Law enforcement
Madagascar
Mauritius
FIGURE 1 Breakdown of 213 interviewees by island and interviewee type.
6 CHANGING TIDESDiscussions around China’s overseas lending, notion that the atoll could become a future Chinese
debts and debt negotiations gained even more military base and also grant China access to large
traction in the course of 2020, raising doubts over fishing and mineral resources in the deep sea.8
the sustainability of what President Xi Jinping had
Lastly, whereas much has been written about the
described as the ‘project of the century’.4 Data
New Silk Road (as the BRI is also referred to) and its
released by Boston University in December 2020
accompanying Maritime Silk Road, a great deal of
showed that lending by Chinese institutions to BRI
opacity remains: neither a comprehensive list of all
countries had fallen dramatically in the 2016–2019
BRI projects nor criteria for prospective projects are
period, suggesting that the policy of lending to
officially available. In addition, some projects that had
countries with shaky finances was unsustainable, in
started prior to 2013 now appear to be discussed as
part because it involves multiple debt renegotiations
part of the BRI and others that were conceived as
along the way (further proliferated as a result of the
independent from the BRI have been absorbed into
COVID-19 pandemic and related hardship).5 Analysts
the initiative’s universe. A notable example is the
also pointed to the uncertainty resulting from the
China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which
trade war with the United States (2018–2019), the
now represents the bulk of BRI-related initiatives in
desire to consolidate existing investments and a
Pakistan and is a flagship component of the overall
shift towards investments in the domestic market as
BRI effort.9
factors behind reduced Chinese foreign lending. To
this list, one could add the notion that the BRI has not Notwithstanding such gaps in the available data and
always helped China’s reputation.6 Notwithstanding the observation that many BRI-related infrastructure
concerns about the financing model, which may have projects are yet to be completed, it is already possible
far-reaching consequences especially for low-income to identify some actual and potential implications
countries that rely heavily on China for building for transnational crime and the trafficking of illicit
their national infrastructures, China is not going to goods. The analysis in this report illustrates how
withdraw BRI-associated economic corridors, trade routes and
SURVEY OF
from the BRI, although it can be expected that major infrastructure developments such as railways
lending might increasingly involve international and ports coincide or intersect with established
financial institutions. trafficking routes and criminal hubs in South East
Asia and Eastern and Central Africa. The report also
REGIONAL
Another controversial aspect of the BRI concerns
examines which by-products of BRI connectivity (e.g.
the inclusion of countries into the initiative’s
an increase in the volume of container shipping) are
ecosystem, which is often seen as part of a bigger
likely to be exploited by criminal enterprises.
strategy. To mention one, the 2020 memorandum
of understanding signed with Kiribati (in addition Although beyond the scope of this report, opacity
MARKETS BY
to those signed with all the Pacific islands that have and lack of a BRI governing body or strong oversight
diplomatic relations with Beijing) was centred on the from Beijing have opened up opportunities for
integration of the BRI with Kiribati’s 20-Year Vision other illicit activities. For example, Chinese investors
development plan.7 Apart from the concerns relating associated with criminal groups have been known for
DRUG TYPE
to the specifics of the agreement, which came mere promoting various projects in China’s neighbouring
months after the restoration of ties between the countries, fraudulently claiming their being associated
two countries, it cannot be ignored that Kiribati with the BRI.10 Most egregious was the case of the
and its exclusive economic zones are strategically so-called China–Thailand–Myanmar Economic
located in the Pacific Ocean. The construction of two
transhipment hubs as part of the development plan,
as well as land reclamation, lends credence to the
A vessel at sea near Nosy Be, Madagascar. The island of Nosy Be is reportedly a hub for the trafficking of drugs in
Madagascar and drug consumption in Nosy Be Hell Ville, the main urban centre on the island, is rising sharply.
© CFimages / Alamy Stock Photo
SURVEY OF REGIONAL MARKETS BY DRUG TYPE 7SOMALIA From the Makran coast
of Iran and Pakistan
KENYA Exclusive
Economic Zone
to Europe
From Latin America via Kenya, South Africa, Ethiopia Seychelles
Inner Islands
to Europe, the US Praslin
Mahé
Via
Via
From
Ken
Keny
Zanzibar Seychelles France
ya
City
a
Outer Islands
Dar es
Salaam Heroin shipments
transferred between vessels
or dropped overboard
TANZANIA
for collection
Via Tan
zania
Via Tanzania
Vi
aT
Union of the
an
ni Comoros
za
a
I N D I A N
Grande
Comore
Antisiranana O C E A N
MOZAMBIQUE
Anjouan
Pemba Nosy
Mayotte Be
(France) Ambanja
Analabe
Ambanja
Nacala
Heroin shipments
Mahajanga
are dropped off in
Angoche the sea close to
Mauritius
el
nn
ha
From Brazil,
eC
via South
Africa Toamasina
qu
ANTANANARIVO
bi
am
oz
Antsirabe
s
M
itiu
ur
Ma
Import of cocaine, Fianarantsoa
primarily via intermediary Réunion
African countries MADAGASCAR (France)
Ihosy
ca
eri
n Am
m Lati Betroka
Fro Toliara a
th Afric
a
Andriry Sou
f ri c
m
region Fro
hA
ut
So
ia Major cannabis flows
,v
ca
eri Major cocaine flows
n Am
Lati Major heroin flows
From
Smaller flows
Suspected trafficking route
Synthetic cannabinoid flows (postal flows largely
N from China, sometimes via EU)
0 400 km
By air (carried by mules) By post By sea
FIGURE 2 Key drug flows through the western Indian Ocean islands.
8 CHANGING TIDESHeroin
Heroin is by far the region’s most prominent and Mauritius, which may contribute to the higher price paid
long-standing drugs economy. The scale of the heroin for heroin there, as discussed below.)
market has led to the development of sophisticated
The Seychelles and Mauritius are the principal
trafficking networks in the island states, poured money
consumer markets for heroin. Their comparative
into the hands of drug traffickers, driven corruption wealth – relative to other countries around the Indian
and established the landscape in which markets for Ocean littoral – has made them attractive and lucrative
other drugs have developed. (if small in absolute size) secondary destinations, and
Heroin is transported to the island states predominantly they have been actively targeted by traffickers moving
through maritime routes, with smaller volumes carried heroin along the southern route. The development
by air.10 Transhipment at sea from larger vessels to of these island markets thus differs to that of heroin
smaller boats is a common method of import across markets in countries along the East African coastline,
the islands: drug consignments are offloaded either where GI-TOC research has suggested that domestic
directly onto small boats, or into the sea, sharing GPS heroin markets formed as a result of overspill from the
coordinates with accomplices on land. Seizures indicate volumes transiting towards end markets in Europe and
that containers are also used to traffic heroin to, and the US.
between, the islands. 11
Although the Seychelles and Mauritius were both
Several major maritime flows feed the islands’ markets rendered vulnerable by wealth and geography, the
(together with a number of smaller flows by sea and air). heroin markets of the two islands have different
In the first, heroin is trafficked to transhipment points histories, as shown in the timeline. Heroin consumption
on the East African seaboard, including Kenya, Tanzania in Mauritius has deep roots, pre-dating the material
expansion of the southern heroin route. Early heroin
and Mozambique, before being later transported to
seizures suggest that the primary means of trafficking
Madagascar, Mauritius and the Seychelles.12 Several
were mules and boats bringing heroin from India,
sources report that shipments are also transported
which has close socio-economic and political links to
directly from the Makran coast to Malagasy waters, to
Mauritius.15 This started to change in the late 1990s,
be transferred onto smaller vessels before landing.13 The
when Mauritius became a secondary destination for
Regional Maritime Information Fusion Centre, based in
the growing volumes moving along the southern heroin
Madagascar, argues that Madagascar is too far for dhows
route, driven by surging production in Afghanistan
to reach from the Makran coast, and posits instead that
and Myanmar, a spike in European demand and
transhipment to smaller boats occurs further north in the
displacement from the long-standing northern and
waters near the Seychelles.
Balkan routes driven partly by interdiction efforts.16
Dhows and bulk carriers en route to eastern and Between 2000 and 2004, heroin flows through the
southern Africa are also reported to offload a Indian Ocean reached unprecedented volumes as
proportion of their heroin consignments in the vast networks trafficking heroin from Afghanistan leveraged
Seychellois exclusive economic zone, where it is ports across the East African coastline as transhipment
picked up and landed on the Seychelles by smaller points en route to lucrative consumer markets in
vessels. (This direct supply from Iran is not available to
14
Europe and the US.
SURVEY OF REGIONAL MARKETS BY DRUG TYPE 9SOMALIA From the Makran coast
of Iran and Pakistan
KENYA
to Europe Seychelles
Inner Islands
to Europe, the US Praslin
Mahé
Via
Ken
Zanzibar
Seychelles
ya
City
Outer Islands
Dar es
Salaam Heroin shipments
transferred between vessels
or dropped overboard
TANZANIA
for collection
Via Tan
zania
Via
Tan
zan Union of the
ia
Comoros
I N D I A N
Grande
Anjouan
Comore Antisiranana O C E A N
MOZAMBIQUE
Pemba Nosy
Mayotte Be
(France)
Ambanja
Analabe
Ambanja
Nacala
Heroin shipments
Mahajanga are dropped off in
Angoche the sea close to
Mauritius
e l
n n
h a
Toamasina
C
e
ANTANANARIVO
u
iq
MADAGASCAR Antsirabe
b
Mauritius
m
a
o
z
M Fianarantsoa
Réunion
(France)
Ihosy
Betroka
Toliara
frica
Andriry th A
m Sou
region Fro
Major heroin flows
Suspected trafficking route
Smaller heroin flows
By air (carried by mules)
N By sea
0 400 km
FIGURE 3 Key heroin flows through the western Indian Ocean islands.
10 CHANGING TIDESThe development of heroin markets in Mauritius and the Seychelles
1970
Mauritius
Seychelles
Heroin – known as ‘brown sugar’ – was first
introduced to Mauritius, primarily trafficked from
India. Opium had first been imported to Mauritius
by Indian and Chinese immigrants in the early 19th
century, whereas the arrival of heroin was much
later.
1980
Consumption of heroin spiralled. By 1996 the UN
ranked heroin consumption in Mauritius – prevalent in
an estimated 0.4% of the population aged 15 and Heroin trafficking to Mauritius shifted away from
over – as the highest in Africa. (Estimates cited by trafficking via India. Instead, Mauritius became a
the Government of Mauritius in this period were far secondary destination for heroin being trafficked
higher – at 2.5% of the overall population.) on the ‘southern route’ to East Africa.
1990
2% of Mauritius’ population was estimated to be
using heroin, the highest rates in Africa. Injecting The first reported cases of heroin withdrawal
drug use became increasingly common. were reported by rehabilitation centres and
health professionals in the Seychelles in the
mid-2000s.
2000
While heroin use declined sharply in Mauritius
The proportion of patients in rehabilitation
from 2005, this decline was temporary and by
receiving treatment for heroin use rose from
2012 heroin use was once again on the rise.
27.8% to 59.5%, and subsequently remained high.
Seychelles agency APDAR tracked a further jump to
A study of the population of PWUD in the
Seychelles by the Agency for the Prevention of
2010 between 5 000 – 6 000 heroin users by November
Drug Abuse and Rehabilitation (APDAR) tracked 2019. 2019 statistics suggest that the Seychellois
a fourfold increase in the number of heroin users heroin-using population stood at around 10% of the
between 2011 and 2018 (1 200 – 4 300). island’s working-age population, the highest national
per capita heroin consumption in the world.
PWUD interviewed for this study
consistently identified a particular 2020 Interviewees in the Seychelles reported that the
acceleration in heroin use in 2020. heroin market had continued to grow through 2019
and 2020.
SURVEY
SURVEY
OF REGIONAL
OF REGIONAL
MARKETS
MARKETS
BY DRUG
BY DRUG
TYPETYPE 11By contrast, the Seychelles’ heroin market is a more recent phenomenon, emerging
in parallel with this period of expansion along the southern route. According to
rehabilitation centres and professionals, patients first started reporting withdrawal
from heroin in the mid-2000s, and heroin swiftly rose to be the principal substance
for which patients sought rehabilitation treatment. According to the Seychelles’
Agency for the Prevention of Drug Abuse and Rehabilitation (APDAR), there was a
fourfold increase in the number of heroin users between 2011 and 2018 (from 1 200
to 4 300). This had reportedly jumped to between 5 000 and 6 000 heroin users by
November 2019, equivalent to around 10% of the island’s working-age population,
making the Seychelles the country with the highest per capita heroin consumption in
the world.17 Stakeholders interviewed for this research, including law enforcement,
PWUD and health officials, pointed to further growth in the heroin market between
2019 and mid-2020.18
The changing role of dhows in illicit flows across the
Indian Ocean
Dhows – a type of wooden fishing vessel traditionally smuggling down the East African coast and charcoal
used in the Indian Ocean – have long been the major smuggling to Somalia.20 Dhows, of the ‘Jelbut’ type
vessel type bringing heroin from the Makran coast as pictured below, have also recently been found
of Iran and Pakistan to the southern Indian Ocean.19 to be transporting methamphetamines produced in
These vessels are also used for a range of other Afghanistan and trafficked from Pakistan to southern
illicit flows through the Indian Ocean, from cargoes Africa. These cases have included mixed shipments of
of other drugs such as cannabis round the Horn of methamphetamines and heroin.21
Africa, arms shipments to Yemen and Somalia, human
t A dhow – the Payam Al Mansur –
pictured moored in the Seychelles
after it was intercepted by
Seychelles authorities carrying
almost 100 kilograms of heroin
and almost 1 kilogram of opium in
April 2016. © Twitter
12 CHANGING TIDESDhow
Motor boat
5000 Container ship
Yacht
Fishing vessel
4000
Undisclosed
Volume of heroin seized (kg)
3000
2000
1000
2018 2019 2020 2021 (Jan-Mar)
FIGURE 4 Maritime heroin seizures in the western Indian Ocean, 2018 to March 2021, by vessel type.
SOURCE: Adapted from Regional Maritime Information Fusion Centre data, supplemented with external data sources, including
press reports.
The popularity of dhows in illicit flows is partly due modalities as a whole were shifting away from the use
to the ubiquity of these vessels in the Indian Ocean, of dhows towards bulk carriers, steel-hulled vessels
and their ability to travel to ports not suitable for and containers, as authorities are now highly aware
larger vessels. Dhows are also relatively durable over of dhows’ historical connection to trafficking.23 These
long distances, with some vessels involved in heroin vessels are able to travel further than dhows (meaning
trafficking being adapted to further enhance their long- they could directly reach states which are currently
distance capabilities, including by adding extra-large believed to be beyond the reach of dhows, including
fuel tanks.
Madagascar), and larger vessels are less affected
Yet their popularity may be waning. While many by seasonal weather conditions. The coronavirus
interviewees in law enforcement still highlighted pandemic is reported to have impacted dhow traffic
dhows as the major vessel type for trafficking, more severely than bulk cargo shipments, including
interviewees also cited purse seiners (a larger type of in containers, and may accelerate the adoption of
fishing vessel),22 while others argued that trafficking alternative trafficking methods.
SURVEY OF REGIONAL MARKETS BY DRUG TYPE 13Based on the scale of their domestic heroin By contrast, Madagascar is developing as a regional
consumption markets, analysis has speculated as to drugs transhipment hub and is sometimes described
whether Mauritius and the Seychelles are transit as a plaque tournante – a ‘turning point’ – for drugs
points for heroin being trafficked by air to markets destined primarily to the rest of the Indian Ocean
in Europe and the US. A 2012 US State Department region and also further afield. 29 Interviewees both
report said: ‘While Mauritius is not a significant within and outside Madagascar consistently reported
transhipment location on a global scale, the island that heroin trafficking through the country has grown
state is increasingly seen as a regional hub for heroin significantly over the past five years. The majority
distribution, often intended for onward movement into of heroin arriving in Madagascar is trafficked to
Europe and even the United States.’ 24 other Indian Ocean island states, predominantly the
While it is difficult to discount this possibility Seychelles and Mauritius, 30 but interviewees in law
completely, interviewees in this research, including enforcement agencies in Madagascar have reported
members of law enforcement agencies, intelligence with confidence that heroin reaching the island by sea
services, the coastguard and dealers in both countries, (as explored below) is also being transported onwards
did not, with only one exception, share this view. 25
by air to Europe and North America (Canada and the
Other indicators, such as the high price of heroin in US), using mules.31
Mauritius, also mitigates against the idea of Mauritius
The rise of Madagascar as a transhipment point
as a transit country, as the presence of high-volume
can be linked to shifts in the southern route along
flows through the country could be expected to
the East African coast. Disembarkation points for
depress prices.
vessels carrying heroin have, in broad terms, shifted
Similarly, the Comoros has also been cited as a southwards along the East African coast over a
possible transit point in the international heroin trade.
number of years: from Kenya through to Tanzania
One commentator suggested that bulk carriers move
and ports in northern Mozambique.32 Growing law
heroin from Iran to the Comoros before containerizing
enforcement focus on disrupting flows has played
the drug for transit to Europe (leveraging the
a role in displacing landing points south. Increasing
significant container port in Anjouan). 26 Supporting
seizures of heroin off the Mozambique coast and
this, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
disruptions due to the conflict in Mozambique’s
has reportedly identified one bulk carrier that travels
Cabo Delgado province may now be contributing
from Iran and regularly passes both the Comoros and
to Madagascar’s increasingly prominent role as a
north-eastern Madagascar (the island’s primary drugs
repackaging and redistribution hub.
export area), which is suspected of offloading heroin
to smaller vessels. 27 Reporting of dhows sheltering Domestic geographic and socio-political factors
around the Comoros in 2020 following a spate of combine to make Madagascar highly vulnerable to
interceptions around the Mozambican coast could exploitation by criminal networks. There is low naval
point towards the increased use of the Comoros as a or coastguard capacity to effectively monitor the
transit point in the future. 28 island’s five-thousand-kilometre shoreline, which is
At present, however, our research did not find peppered by informal ports and landing points. Limited
evidence of the Comoros operating as a significant infrastructure renders some rural areas difficult
transit point. The archipelago was rather found to for government forces to access, especially when
operate predominantly as a small destination market, combined with issues of banditry and armed cattle
with the majority of heroin imported from Tanzania, rustling, meaning state oversight of some rural and
leveraging long-established trading and cultural links. coastline areas is minimal.
14 CHANGING TIDESChronic governance weaknesses compound these challenges. Madagascar’s
2009 military coup, and the five-year transitional period (and institutional decay)
which followed, proved pivotal to the development of the island’s illicit markets.
Between 2009 and 2014, criminal networks flourished, contributing to the rise of
Madagascar’s now-entrenched illegal markets in wildlife, gems, timber and other
environmental products.33 Corruption related to these markets has further damaged
already weak institutions.34
In light of these vulnerabilities, commentators have warned for some years that
Madagascar either is, or is at risk of becoming, a hub for international drug trafficking.
Our research finds that these warnings are coming to fruition. While domestic heroin
consumption is – and has always been – far lower than in Mauritius and the Seychelles,
Madagascar’s role as a transit country is driving a domestic market. Heroin use has,
particularly since 2015, been growing, particularly in urban settings such as areas of
Antananarivo and Hell-Ville, the main town on the north-eastern island of Nosy Be,
which is also an important maritime heroin export point.
Réunion and Mayotte were not found to play a significant role in regional heroin
trafficking dynamics. Heroin use in both islands is far lower than Mauritius and the
Seychelles. Instead, as explored below, trafficking routes from mainland Europe and the
rise of synthetic cannabinoids are larger influences on these islands’ drug economies.
Heroin prices in the Indian Ocean islands
The average price of heroin in Mauritius was, during reporting and statements by the Seychellois drugs
the period of data collection in 2020, €108 per gram authorities have linked this decline to the introduction
(MUR 5 042) – more than double the price of heroin of a large-scale methadone programme, the causes
in the Seychelles, which was on average €46 per gram remain unclear.37
(SCR 917). When broken down to price per dose (the
In Madagascar, PWUD in Antananarivo and Nosy Be
most common volume of heroin sold at street level),
paid less – €33 (MGA 150 936) and €36 (MGA 165
PWUD in Mauritius paid approximately 50% more than
454) on average per gram respectively – than PWUD
PWUD in the Seychelles: €6.40 (MUR 300) compared
in the Seychelles. This supports the characterization
to €4.60 (SCR 91.60) per dose.36
of the island as primarily a transit market, with a
Seychellois prices may be lower in part due to the domestic consumption market met from overspill
shorter supply chain, which feeds the market directly from the significant volumes being repackaged and
from the Makran coast. Notably, heroin price in redistributed.38 The lower prices in Madagascar likely
the Seychelles have dropped sharply over the past reflect both lower demand and high supply from the
few years, with PWUD pointing to 2018–2020 as transit route, and the lower relative buying power of
the period of steepest decline. While some media Malagasy PWUD.
SURVEY OF REGIONAL MARKETS BY DRUG
SECTION TYPE
HEADER 15Retail price of heroin (SCR/g)
2000
1500
1000
500
0
2000 2010 2015 2020
(Peak 2008–2010)
FIGURE 5 Fluctuations in estimated retail heroin price, Seychelles, 2000–2020.
NOTE: Historic data shared by local researchers (gathered through discussions with PWUD over time), and supplemented
with 2020 GI-TOC survey data.
200
Reported price range
Mean price
Retail price of heroin (EUR/g)
150
n.d No data provided
100
50
n.d
0
Mauritius Seychelles Madagascar Réunion Mayotte Comoros
lin
o
e
e
Be
e
e
u
ah
riv
ag
ag
as
ig
y
M
na
er
er
D
os
Pr
Av
Av
na
La
N
ta
An
FIGURE 6 Retail heroin prices, 2020.
SOURCE: GI-TOC drug pricing survey data used for Madagascar, Seychelles and Mauritius. For the Comoros and Réunion,
data collected through interviews with local stakeholders (including PWUD), supplemented by external reports.
16 CHANGING TIDESNew psychoactive substances
Synthetic cannabinoid compounds, known as chimique In Mayotte, which had an extremely limited pre-existing
(meaning ‘chemical’), are by far the most significant drugs market, synthetic cannabinoids quickly became the
NPS market across the islands. Synthetic cannabinoids island’s most prevalent drug (again with the exception of
arrived in the region between 2011 and 2013. By 39
cannabis), spilling over into the neighbouring Comoros
2015, they had drastically changed the illicit drugs islands, and effectively creating a Mahorais drug
markets of Mauritius and Mayotte, and by 2018 that of problem where none had previously existed. In contrast,
the Comoros. usage was negligible in the Seychelles, Réunion and
Madagascar at the time of writing.
The first compounds on the Mauritius market had
names such as ‘Black Mamba’, ‘C’est pas bien’ and The vertiginous rise in synthetic cannabinoid use is in
‘Batte-dans-la-tête’. By 2020, law enforcement, PWUD part attributable to the nature of the market and supply
and rehabilitation workers agreed that synthetic chain. Synthetic cannabinoids, and their precursors,
cannabinoids had become the most widely used drug are purchased online and imported, predominantly
on the island (with the exception of cannabis), with use from China. Testing by the Mauritius Forensic
particularly concentrated among the youth (including Science Laboratory (FSL) found that 95% of synthetic
13- to 18-year-olds).40 cannabinoids on the island originate from China.41
Union of the
Seychelles
Comoros Outer Islands
Grande Synthetic cannabinoid flows (postal flows largely
Comore from China, sometimes via EU)
Anjouan
By post
Antisiranana
By sea
Mayotte Nosy
(France) Be
Ambanja
l
e Analabe
n Ambanja
n
a
h
Mahajanga
C
u e
I N D I A N
b i q
MADAGASCAR O C E A N
M o z a m
Toamasina
ANTANANARIVO
Mauritius
Antsirabe
Réunion
(France)
Fianarantsoa
Ihosy
0 400 km
N
Toliara Betroka
FIGURE 7 Key synthetic cannabinoid flows through the western Indian Ocean islands.
SURVEY OF REGIONAL MARKETS BY DRUG TYPE 17Small quantities of Imported in powder, or less commonly liquid form, largely through postal and express
courier services, the cannabinoids are sometimes disguised in foodstuffs; in 2020, a
precursors make spate of cannabinoid imports in Mauritius were disguised in chilli paste.42
significant volumes In China, precursors are manufactured legally in vast quantities, meaning they
of chimique, which, are widely available and cheap on the surface web. Dark web capabilities are not
required, and neither are established transnational relationships with suppliers
in turn, can bring
overseas, which can pose barriers to entry into heroin or cannabis markets.
vast profits.
Increasingly, synthetic cannabinoid compounds are being imported in the form of
precursors, which are harder to detect. These precursors are then combined on the
islands, being simply mixed with a range of easily available solvents and sprayed onto
plant material, including tobacco, tea or herbs.43 (In Mauritius, one of the substances
mixed with the precursors is baygon, a pesticide;44 the resulting chimique is known as
‘strawberry’ due to its sweetness.) 45 This ease of manufacture obviates the need for
domestic laboratory expertise or specialist equipment (as required, for instance, for
meth production).
Small quantities of precursors make significant volumes of chimique, which in turn
can bring vast profits. Individuals arrested for chimique trafficking in Mayotte report
that €10 of the compound can be converted into chimique with a street value in
Mayotte of between €200 and €400.46 Highlighting similar metrics, Salim Hossanee,
Assistant Superintendent of the Mauritius Police Force, reported in a public forum
that 1 kilogram of pure synthetic cannabinoids has a street value of over €372 000,
and 1 gram of the pure compound can generate 300 grams of drugs to be sold on
the street market.47 One kingpin in Mayotte imprisoned in 2016 claimed to have
made between €10 000 and €20 000 per day from the chimique trade.48
Low costs of production and import means limited capital is required to enter the
market, giving it the characteristics of a ‘bridge’ criminal market: new entrants
use synthetic cannabinoids to build capital before entering other, more capital
intensive, markets (either licit or illicit). In Mauritius, individuals have used synthetic
cannabinoids to enter the drugs market and then diversified into heroin and cannabis
(although given the high demand for and profits of synthetic cannabinoids, many
have also chosen not to diversify). Others have used profits derived from single, or
occasional, synthetic cannabinoid imports to establish businesses. These occasional
importers use synthetic cannabinoids as a way of making a high return on investment,
at times even crowd-funding imports. As one PWUD said, ‘More and more young
people dealing in drugs tend to operate like a cooperative society. They raise funds to
bring in drugs.’49
These characteristics mean that new players can easily enter the drugs market. In
Mayotte, synthetic cannabinoids triggered an explosion in the number of dealers. In
Mauritius, an established drugs market, synthetic cannabinoids not only swelled the
market further, but also fundamentally disrupted and democratized the market.50
Chimique is smoked, an easy method of ingestion which facilitates use. Further, the
low price of synthetic cannabinoids – enabled by the relative simplicity of the supply
chain – makes them accessible to a wide demographic.
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