South Africa a cornerstone for cocaine transit and consumption – Global Initiative report

South Africa’s domestic cocaine market is growing, with East Africa and the rest of southern Africa playing a key role in the transnational flow of the highly lucrative illegal narcotic, according to a report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime.

The report, A Powder Storm: The Cocaine Markets of East and Southern Africa, draws its conclusion from fieldwork across 16 countries in the region. It was drawn from group discussions with more than 1 000 drug users, personal interviews with more than 1 700 informants, including more than 400 drug couriers and distributors, 70 high level drug importers and 40 law enforcement personnel.