Drug trafficking in northern Mali: a tenuous criminal equilibrium

2020-09-17

Northern Mali has been and continues to be a transit zone for regional and global drug-trafficking networks transporting narcotics through Africa to Europe. However, the ways in which those involved in narcotics trafficking position themselves within political, economic and security structures have changed. The result is a tenuous criminal equilibrium that allows drug trafficking to continue. Efforts to control it, however, could threaten the already fragile peace process in which several actors involved in trafficking are participating.

About the author

Peter Tinti is a Senior Research Fellow at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime and independent journalist, focusing on conflict, human rights and organised crime. As part of his work for the Global Initiative, Tinti has written and contributed to several reports on organised crime in the Sahel and Central America, as well as migrant smuggling networks in Africa, Asia, and Europe.

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