International drug trafficking runs

Drug consignments from Pakistan has become the norm for the world, including Africa and the Middle East, reported Geo-politik.

Nigeria, which is the most populous country in Africa, has developed a reputation as a center for drug trafficking and usage mostly among the youth.

An international drug smuggling network that stretches from Nigeria to Afghanistan via some Gulf countries runs through Pakistan, reported Geo-politik.

The most commonly used drugs in Nigeria are Tramadol and Codeine. It has no effects on the respiratory system but an overdose causes arrhythmias, cramps, coma, and death.

In Nigeria, it is regulated as the 50 and 100mg dosage strengths but very high dosage forms of 200 and 225mg have infiltrated the market. There is massive smuggling of Tramadol capsules via Pakistan.

With Codeine, the risk of addiction is great, and in many countries including Nigeria, consumers are required to have prescriptions for all opioid-based medications.

The misuse of codeine products contributes to severe health outcomes including liver damage, stomach ulceration, respiratory depression, coma, and death.

In Nigeria, despite the fact that all codeine-containing products are locally manufactured and are prescription-only-medicines (POM) since 2012, products are smuggled into the country as unregistered products from Karachi, reported Geo-politik.

In the Middle East and Africa, the opioid Tramadol is responsible for the opioid crisis. Pakistan is the biggest supplier. For several years, in Nigeria as in many African and Middle East countries, there were signs of expansion of the market for Tramadol, but now it seems that the illegal drug trade is booming.

Recently on December 18, 2022, The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) of Nigeria issued a statement declaring that it has seized over 1.7 million opioid tablets smuggled into Nigeria from South Africa and Pakistan, reported Geo-politik.

Drug consignments from Pakistan have become the norm for African countries. On 16th February this year, anti-narcotics officers seized 649,300 capsules of Tramadol 225mg weighing 460.95kg imported from Pakistan via Addis Ababa through Ethiopian Airlines.

Moreover, Pakistani Tramadol networks have even been linked to ISIS and Boko Haram, raising security concerns. There have been several instances of seizures of Tramadol from Pakistan destined for Islamic State territory, reported Geo-politik.