Western Balkans Cocaine Groups Expand West Africa Trafficking Hub

Criminal groups from the Western Balkans, including Montenegrin clans and Albanian-speaking networks, are increasingly using West Africa as a strategic hub for trafficking cocaine into Europe. This shift has been driven by rising European demand, tighter controls on direct Latin American shipments, and the expansion of West African ports such as those in Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, and Sierra Leone. The groups have formed strong alliances with Brazilian organization Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and Dutch gangs, consolidating their control over the cocaine supply chain. The report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) highlights that this alliance is among the most important for moving cocaine into Europe and warns of growing security risks in West Africa. It calls for enhanced international cooperation, better intelligence sharing, and targeted actions against financial networks and brokers linked to these criminal groups. Increasing local drug consumption and the use of under-monitored trafficking methods like general aviation further exacerbate the threat.