Agadez: The bustling bus station in Agadez underscores the city’s status as a major hub in the Nigerien desert. This northern edge of the Sahel has, for centuries, seen trade routes between West Africa and the Maghreb converge. Here, the lines between legal trade and smuggling blur, with the illicit movement of people from sub-Saharan Africa to Europe often considered a key economic driver.
According to Deutsche Welle, the situation for migrants like Bamadou from Guinea has worsened. After abandoning his attempt to reach Europe, Bamadou now warns others of the criminal gangs’ brutality in Agadez. The region has seen significant changes following the 2023 military coup, which led to the abolition of anti-smuggling laws. Ulf Laessing of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation suggests Russian influence played a role, following a military agreement with Moscow.
The effects of this policy shift were immediate. Within weeks, the smuggling business in Agadez resumed and continues to expand, according to the city’s mayor. This trend is mirrored in neighboring countries, Burkina Faso and Mali, where military governments have prioritized relations with Moscow over Brussels. This realignment has coincided with a dramatic increase in regional smuggling, particularly in the drug sector.
From 2015 to 2020, authorities in these countries seized about 13 kilograms of drugs annually. By 2022, this figure skyrocketed to approximately 1.5 tonnes, an increase of over 11,000%, as reported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). In 2024, more than a tonne of cocaine was seized in a single border check between Senegal and Mali, marking a record.
Amado Philip de Andres from the UNODC in Dakar highlights the Sahel’s strategic importance for drug smugglers, situated between Latin American producers and European consumers with high demand. Political instability has historically been exploited by criminal networks, but recent developments indicate a new scale of operations.
The cocaine trade towards Europe often traverses the Sahel via routes controlled by expanding local networks. While major players in the cocaine trade remain in Latin America, the middle tiers are increasingly dominated by West and Central African actors. These networks are now leveraging significant financial power, laundering money through major regional projects.
The backdrop to this surge includes corruption among local officials and security forces, exacerbated by Europe’s waning influence and the suspension of anti-corruption initiatives. De Andres notes the growing sway of drug traffickers over local border officials and politicians.
Despite Russian promises of military intervention to restore order, expectations remain unmet. Ulf Laessing compares the current Russian presence—1,500 troops in Mali and 400 in Burkina Faso and Niger—to France’s previous deployment of over 5,000 soldiers, which also failed to pacify the region. Instead, the presence of the Russian mercenary group Africa Corps has reportedly intensified conflicts, adding to the complexity of the situation in the Sahel.