A number of major drug busts in Switzerland have underlined the growing influence of West Africans in the cocaine trafficking trade and the methods used. In February, a Lausanne court jailed two Nigerian asylum seekers working for a Togolese criminal group for smuggling cocaine into Switzerland and money laundering following a Europe-wide investigation known as "Inox".
Some 35 people have been arrested as part of the investigation, accused of smuggling 15 kilograms of cocaine from West Africa.
The Inox case is just one of a handful of major cocaine busts announced by Swiss police in recent months. On Wednesday, Neuchâtel cantonal police reported it had broken up a West African cocaine ring following the arrests of 30 people across Europe.
A day earlier, Lucerne police said it had dismantled a Nigerian cocaine network, involving 30 people, which smuggled the drug into Switzerland from France and the Netherlands by train using female drug mules. Other cases involving Nigerians were reported in the city of Biel in February and in canton Vaud in January.
"The numerous recent cases are the result of a determined campaign by the cantons to break down open street-level cocaine trafficking," Roger Flury, an illegal drugs expert at the Federal Police Office.
"West Africans are clearly the most dominant group, followed by people from the Dominican Republic. They were very visible and active; it was only a question of time."
Massive Increases
Recent years have seen massive increases of cocaine smuggling from South America into Europe via West Africa. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that 27 per cent, or 40 tons of cocaine consumed annually in Europe, worth $1.8 billion (SFr2 billion), pass through West Africa.
Cocaine is mostly transported to West Africa in large quantities on sea vessels, often concealed in containers. In West Africa the cocaine is stockpiled, repackaged and much of it shipped to Europe on commercial flights in the luggage, clothing or intestines of drug mules. According to the UNODC, criminal groups have started using a "shotgun approach", whereby a large number of couriers are dispatched on the same flight.
Upon arrival the cocaine is distributed via West African criminal groups throughout Europe.
"Before, most cocaine entered Europe via Spain and the Netherlands, but Portugal has grown in importance alongside Spain as an entry point linked to the Portuguese colonies in Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde," said Thomas Pietchmann, a UNODC researcher.
As soon as one network is dismantled another is in place very quickly. They are very mobile and flexible and organised. There is no permanent hierarchy so a seller can arrive and quickly become responsible for a network," he explained. sayes Jean-Christophe Sauterel
Togo-Based Group
In the recent Inox case, a Togo-based criminal group smuggled cocaine to Europe via Brussels airport using drugs mules. The mules were met by Nigerian gang members who distributed the drugs on their behalf throughout Europe, including Switzerland, collected the profits and redistributed them back to Togo.
To obtain visas to enter Switzerland, dealers placed orders with Swiss companies at trade fairs in Germany and then requested commercial invitations to travel to Switzerland.
Instead of transferring money back to Africa via Western Union, a money transfer service, or using other traditional transfer routes, drug funds were converted into hundreds of second-hand cars, which were bought from a Lebanese garage owner in canton Bern and shipped to Togo.
According to Jean-Christophe Sauterel, spokesman for the Vaud cantonal police, although the Inox case is "not that exceptional", it illustrates well the situation in Switzerland.
Endless battle
"The networks are organised, with sellers coming here from the various countries in West Africa to deal cocaine. Once in Switzerland they are looked after by a network that can even organise asylum requests," he said.
"The Nigerians are very active and often at the head of the network. If not, people from Togo, Guinea and Guinea Bissau. Sometimes they are organised by clan or country of origin, but other times it's mixed."
"The police can't eradicate drug smuggling. We don't have the means and we can never do so. In canton Vaud we have taken precautions to limit the visibility of drug dealing but with the constant pressure on street dealing the problem has been diluted. Dealing is no longer open in the streets but in public transport or in apartments. It's not just in Lausanne but all towns in the canton are affected," said Sauterel. "We don't pretend to be able to resolve the problem, which is much wider than the competence of the police alone."
In March, the Lucerne police dismantled a Nigerian cocaine ring operating from Holland and France. Several drug smugglers, mostly African women, smuggled a total of 5 kilograms of cocaine, worth half a million francs.
On August 18, the Neuchatel police reported the arrest of six asylum seekers originating from West Africa, who smuggled more than 2.5 kilograms of cocaine mainly in the northern Val-de-Travers region. A seventh, convict, principally active in the city of Neuchatel, is accused of having sold at least 1.25 kilograms.
Seventeen members of a Nigerian drug trafficking group have now been arrested, say canton Vaud police, who have been working with Lausanne-based border guards, and Dutch and French police. The leader of the group has been arrested at his base in The Netherlands and CHF80,000 in cash was seized, as was 15kg of cocaine. The trafficking ring had already used mules to carry at least 50 kg of cocaine into Switzerland, with a street value of CHF50.5 million, say Vaud police.
The trafficking ring was discovered when border guards checking people on a TGV train from Paris to Lausanne, they were suspicious of water cartons, which turned out to contain 3.5 kg of cocaine. The woman from Cameroon who was carrying them was arrested on the train and has been held in Paris. Her sister, who is Swiss, was found to have similar cartons when she stepped off the train in Lausanne.
Police established that 15 drug runs had been made into Switzerland, and in August they arrested two Polish women at a hotel in Lausanne. The drug ring had changed its tactics and the two had swallowed 2.5 kg of the drug, then used a car to drive the cocaine into the country. The two Polish mules were hired in Rotterdam and paid €1,500 to deliver the goods. The two told police they had delivered 60kg throughout Europe, of which half was to Switzerland.
In August, Swiss customs stationed in Geneva arrested four African drug smugglers aged 29-46 in a Portuguese car. They had swallowed a total of 280 cocaine packets, totalling 5.4 kilograms of cocaine. Police believes these mules mainly come from Africa. They are paid between 500-1000 Euros to swallow the drug.
In May, the Bern city police seized 1.5 kilograms of cocaine in a down town shop, including a significant amount of cash, forty cell phones and eleven digital cameras. The police arrested thirteen persons of African origin. One person is still detained in pre-trial detention.
On July 13, a Zurich district court handed severe sentences against seven Dominican drug smugglers. The 40-year old mastermind of the ring received the highest sentence, with 14 years in jail. He organized the import of 186 kilograms of cocaine from the Dominican Republic into the Zurich area since early 2007 by means of his own import company named Caribbean Import GmbH. His 36-year old deputy was sentenced to a 10-year prison sentence. Both will have to pay a fine of 50,000 francs. A 30-year old Dominican woman was sentenced to seven years in prison, while a 38-year old Zurich taxi driver and a 22-year old Turkish woman were sentenced to serve 3.5 years in prison. A 42-year old Greek was also sentenced to one year in prison for documentary fraud and money laundering.
On July 20, Swiss customs in Basel reported the arrest of a 38-year old woman from Bern attempting to smuggle 1.9 kilograms of cocaine. She was using a belt around her waist. The man controlling her, a Nigerian citizen, was later arrested in Zurich.
Geneva police authorities complain that the city's number one problem is drug trafficking. The Geneva drug scene is controlled by many nationalities depending on the type of drug. Large numbers of drug dealers or traffickers destroy their identity papers and apply for asylum to avoid repatriation to their home country.
The average monthly earnings of a drug dealer in Geneva are about SFr. 4,000. Geneva police statistics on drug-related arrests show that 98.5 percent of drug dealers were foreigners. Geneva police statistics on drug-related arrests show that 98.5 percent of drug dealers were foreigners.
Between 4 to 5 tones of cocaine is trafficked into Switzerland every year. The black market value of the cocaine is estimated to be worth $535 Million (520 Million Swiss Francs).
Out of a population of 8 million people, Federal Police in Switzerland estimate that between 25,00 to 32,000 people are regular users of cocaine. An additional 36,000 to 44,000 occasionally use cocaine in the country. In 2011, law enforcement seized 401 kilograms of cocaine.
Swiss Medical Heroin Programme
Switzerland focuses heavily on prevention and early intervention to prevent casual users from developing a drug addiction. Youth programs to discourage drug use cost $6 million annually according to the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health. Swiss authorities purchase on an annual basis 250 kilograms of heroin for use in maintenance of the 130,000 registered addicts through the Heroin-assisted treatment (HAT) program at the 23 heroin distribution centres
The heroin imported by the Swiss government costs SFr. 100-130 million each year, and originates from Tasmania, Turkey or France-all licit producers of opium products. The Swiss government is also treating 20,000 people with methadone replacement therapy. Three-quarters of those enrolled in the HAT program were male.
Swiss authorities report that in many cases, patients' physical and mental health has improved, their housing situation has become considerably more stable, and they have gradually managed to find employment. Numerous participants have managed to reduce their debts. In most cases, contacts with addicts and the drug scene have decreased, according to the managers of these programs. Consumption of non-prescribed substances declined significantly in the course of treatment, Swiss authorities report.
The current average cost per patient-day at outpatient treatment centres came to 57 Swiss francs. The overall economic benefit-based on savings in criminal investigations and prison terms and on improvements in health-was calculated by Swiss authorities to be 104 Swiss francs. After deduction of costs, the net benefit is 47 Swiss francs per patient-day. Twenty percent of the costs were paid for by the cantons, while 80 percent was paid by the public health insurance.
Alternative Policy
Cannabis smokers in Switzerland are allowed to grow up to four marijuana plants each at home to stop them buying drugs on the black market.The law allows four people sharing a house to grow up to 16 plants - but only if each person tends to their own crop. The deregulation of Switzerland's cannabis laws was agreed by four neighbouring regions in the French-speaking part of the Alpine country.
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