West Africa is facing an increasingly complex drug crisis, with cocaine seizures doubling, the rapid spread of dangerous synthetic substances and pharmaceutical opioids, and worsening social and economic consequences prompting renewed calls for stronger regional cooperation, intelligence sharing and evidence-based interventions.
The warning was issued by experts, government officials and representatives of Member States during the validation of the 2025 West African Epidemiology Network on Drug Use (WENDU) data and a regional training workshop, where participants stressed that credible data remains indispensable to combating illicit drug trafficking, substance abuse and transnational organised crime.
Addressing the meeting, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Principal Programme Officer for Drug Prevention and Control, Dr. Daniel Amankwa, described the annual WENDU exercise as the region’s foremost mechanism for monitoring drug trends and equipping governments with reliable evidence to formulate effective policies.
He explained that the validation process enables Member States to verify and harmonise data submitted to the ECOWAS Commission before the publication of the regional drug trend report.
“The WENDU report reflects developments in drug abuse, illicit drug trafficking and related crimes across West Africa. Every year, Member States collect and submit data, which are compiled into a regional report and validated to ensure accuracy before publication,” he said.
Although the 2025 report is still undergoing validation, Amankwa disclosed that findings from the completed 2024 report reveal deeply troubling trends requiring urgent and coordinated regional action.
According to him, cannabis remains the most widely abused illicit drug across West Africa, but the growing availability of synthetic drugs, counterfeit pharmaceutical products and highly concentrated opioids has significantly altered the region’s drug landscape.
He identified high-dose tramadol and emerging psychoactive substances such as Kush among the substances increasingly encountered by law enforcement agencies, warning that traffickers continue to manipulate chemical compositions to increase potency and abuse potential.
“We are not referring to legitimate pharmaceutical products,” Amankwa explained. “We are talking about tramadol that should ordinarily contain 50 milligrams but is now found in 200, 250, 300, 400 and even 500 milligram formulations that are being abused.”
He also disclosed that cocaine trafficking through West Africa has intensified considerably.
“The 2024 report showed that cocaine arrests and seizures doubled across the region. Preliminary indications suggest that this trend is continuing in 2025, although the data are not yet conclusive,” he said.
The findings mirror global assessments indicating record cocaine production worldwide, with West Africa remaining a major transit corridor for consignments destined for European markets.
Beyond trafficking statistics, Amankwa warned that substance abuse is imposing enormous public health, security and economic costs across the region, particularly among young people.
He said addiction continues to fuel unemployment, poverty, crime and family breakdown while undermining productivity and national development.
“When people become addicted, it becomes difficult for them to work effectively. That contributes to unemployment, which in turn fuels poverty. Poverty itself can also push people into drug use. It becomes a cycle that reinforces itself,” he said.
He further noted that many individuals battling drug dependence resort to criminal activities to sustain their addiction, thereby exacerbating insecurity.
“The impact is enormous. It affects the economy because productivity declines. It affects health. It fuels crime. It also weakens families and social values,” he added.
Amankwa cautioned that the rapidly evolving nature of drug trafficking requires responses that extend beyond arrests and drug seizures, noting that organised criminal networks continually develop new substances, trafficking routes and concealment techniques whenever existing methods are disrupted.
“Each time authorities develop strategies against one drug or trafficking method, another substance or concealment technique emerges. Criminal networks continue to evolve,” he said.
He advocated a comprehensive regional strategy centred on stronger family support systems, preventive education, enhanced law enforcement, expanded treatment and rehabilitation services, and sustained public awareness campaigns.
According to him, prevention efforts should begin early, as many young people are misled into believing that substances such as tramadol enhance intelligence or improve academic performance.
He also called on governments to expand confidential treatment facilities, including digital counselling platforms, to reduce stigma and encourage people suffering from drug dependence to seek professional help.
“Many people with drug use disorders are highly intelligent and productive individuals. They need treatment and support, not rejection,” he said.
On regional collaboration, Amankwa acknowledged progress made by ECOWAS Member States in intelligence sharing, joint operations and capacity building but stressed that greater trust among national institutions remains critical to effective intelligence exchange.
“Drug control relies heavily on intelligence. Countries must trust one another before they can confidently exchange sensitive information,” he stated.
Participants at the workshop echoed similar concerns, describing the West Africa Drug Trend Report as an increasingly influential policy instrument that has strengthened governments’ understanding of evolving drug use patterns, trafficking routes and organised criminal networks.
Officials commended Member States for their sustained commitment to collecting and submitting quality data, noting that the WENDU reporting mechanism has become one of the region’s most valuable tools for evidence-based policymaking.
They explained that, beyond validating the latest findings, the workshop was designed to strengthen the technical capacity of national focal points responsible for collecting, analysing and reporting drug-related information.
Participants were also introduced to a secure digital platform developed to centralise the collection, management and analysis of drug-related data submitted by Member States. Officials said the system, refined through extensive testing and user feedback, is expected to improve data quality, harmonise reporting standards and enhance regional collaboration.
Speaking on behalf of one participating Member State, a delegate described the 2025 report as timely, given the mounting public health, security and socio-economic consequences of illicit drug trafficking and substance abuse across the region.
The delegate noted that WENDU data had already influenced major policy decisions in several countries, citing his government’s declaration of substance abuse as a public health emergency by the President as an example of evidence-based policymaking inspired by the regional reporting mechanism.
He added that several ECOWAS Member States have since established national task forces and institutional frameworks aimed at addressing the growing drug challenge through coordinated interventions targeting both the demand for and supply of illicit substances.
Describing the workshop as a critical capacity-building initiative, the delegate expressed confidence that participants would apply the knowledge acquired to improve the quality of national drug data and strengthen policy recommendations across the region.
The meeting concluded with renewed calls for sustained investment in drug surveillance systems, stronger intelligence sharing among Member States, expanded access to treatment and rehabilitation services, and preventive programmes rooted in families and communities, as ECOWAS seeks to reverse what experts described as one of West Africa’s fastest-growing public health and security threats.
