West Africa and the transnational trade in illegal drugs: physical properties, policing, and power

Abstract

This paper focuses on the role that physical properties play in the production and distribution of illegal drugs. Using the primary examples of cocaine, cannabis, and heroin, the paper argues that there is a causal relationship between the physical properties of a drug and the manner in which it will be produced and distributed. By explicitly borrowing concepts frequently found in studies concerning resource creation and conflict, the paper uses a transdisciplinary conceptual framework with which to examine some of the factors and mechanisms that have helped to shape the contemporary trade in illegal drugs, with specific reference to West Africa. We have further highlighted some of the means and modes of transport now employed by drug smugglers, showing how they can be situated in relation to policing measures and tactics. By taking into account these physical properties, as well as by focusing on the demand for and value of individual drugs – not to mention the risk calculations that frequently inform different patterns and methods of distribution – we argue that a more nuanced approach to drug policing and legislation is not only possible, but necessary. While the role that the physical properties and ascribed value of specific resources play can be used to show how they contribute to conflict patterns, little explicit attention has been given to how these same features may influence the transnational trade in illicit substances. The need for more nuanced understandings are becoming increasingly important, especially in areas such as West and Southern Africa, where the prescriptions of the now failed ‘war on drugs’ found little use or traction, and have failed to adequately reduce the production, distribution, or consumption of various illicit drugs.