ILLICIT DRUG TRAFFICKING IN COTE DʼIVOIRE
Yasmine Keita＊

I. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND CURRENT TRENDS
In 1973, the Economic and Social Council of Côte dʼIvoire was reporting of the spread of drugs in CôtedʼIvoire and highlighted the need for efficient transnational cooperation to fight against illicit drug trafficking:“The drug issue is a fairly recent phenomenon which current development must make us aware that evil
exists, that we must stop it before it is too late and help each other, with our neighbours and other nations, if
we want to achieve concrete results”1.
The strategic geographical position of Côte dʼIvoire, located between the producer countries of Latin
America and Asia and the consumer countries of Europe, and the presence of the most important port inWest Africa, made it a drug-transit country. Then, by dint of crossing the country, drugs ended up affecting
the local populations and the phenomenon of consumption has increased, taking advantage of the migratory
flows and the economic growth.
Until the mid-1980s, the most common drug was cannabis, mainly grown in isolated clandestine
plantations and located in forested areas.
Table A. Cannabis seizures and offenders 1969-1971
Year

Seized and destroyed quantity*

Number of offenders arrested

Ivoirians

1969

13,1

6

5

1970

8

36

7

1971

28,65861

17*Unit: Kilograms
Although there are no official statistics about the scope of cannabis production, studies on the issue showthat its increase was due to the collapse of coffee and cocoa prices on which Côte dʼIvoire had founded its
economy. After their abrupt loss of income, farmers have found a lucrative substitute through the cannabis
crop, which was hidden in tens of hectares of coffee or cocoa plantations.
According to a survey undertaken by the OGD between 1994 and 1995, two thirds of cannabis farmers
in the country began cultivating in response to the price collapse of cocoa and coffee. 22 Cannabis
farmers earn about CFA 500,000 for a sack weighing 20 ‒ 25 kg: CFA 20 ‒ 25,000 per kilo. When crop
yields are taken into account, a farmer who devotes 0. 1 ha to cannabis cultivation can earn theequivalent of 30 ‒ 40 ha of cocoa cultivation.2
While income seeking is the primary driver of cannabis cultivation, its growth must also be consideredwithin the context of local consumption. In addition to domestically produced cannabis, other drugs havespread, including heroin, cocaine and amphetamine-type stimulants introduced by land, air and sea from
Judge, Court of First Instance of Abidjan, Côte dʼIvoire.
Economic and Social Council of Côte dʼIvoire, Rapport sur le problème de la drogue en Côte dʼIvoire, (Abidjan, 1973; pubd
online 2017) <http://ces.ci/accueil/saisinedetail/58> accessed 6 Apr. 2018.
2
United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, The Drug Nexus in Africa, (Austria, 1999 ; pubd online 1999)<https://www.unodc.org/pdf/report_1999-03-01_1.pdf> accessed 6 Apr. 2018.
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neighbouring countries ̶ such as Ghana and Nigeria ̶ which are hubs of international traffic.
Table B. Drug seizures from 2010 to 2015
BZDs*

ATS

Year

Cannabis

HeroinCocaineNon-specified

2010

3643,25 kg

0,637 kg

1,995 kg

84880 units

2011*691,207 kg

0,927 kg

0,991 kg

101944 tablets

2012

3991,227 kg

45,341 kg

27,346 kg

116 316tablets

2013

4152,896 kg

4,33 kg

20,947 kg

3422,094 g

1254 kg197136 tablets

2014

2,897 Tons

1,778 kg

9,77 kg

7,273 kg

0,5 kg***12268 kg***

2015

4,02 Tons

0,78 kg

18,08 kg

3,82 kg

96,4 g* Benzodiazepines /** Five months only / *** First six months
Source: www.unodc.org
In 2002, with the country split between a rebel-held North and a government-held South, drug trafficking
actors made the most of the opportunity to implement new modes of consumption. In urban areas, makeshift
shelters for narcotics and psychotropic substance consumption ̶ called fumoirs ̶ were implanted and are
constantly developing. In Côte dʼIvoire there is at least one of these drug areas in each city. At least one
hundred are reported to exist in Abidjan alone. Frequent police demolition operations do not seem to deter
leaders of illicit drug trafficking, who find a significant financial windfall with it.
In the specific case of cocaine smuggling, Côte dʼIvoire remains a transit country that does not play acentral role in the traffic.
Despite being well connected to Europe, Cote dʼIvoire is the source of very few of the couriers and has
had no major seizures associated with its territory. More research would be required to determine
why this country seems to be overlooked by cocaine traffickers, particularly as it was formerly afavourite point for transshipping heroin.3
Figure 1. Detected cocaine couriers on flights to Europe per 100,000 international passengers
by country of embarkation (January 2006-May 2008)

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Drug Trafficking As A Security Threat In West Africa, (pubd online November2008) <http: //www. unodc. org/documents/data-and-analysis/Studies/Drug-Trafficking-WestAfrica-English. pdf> accessed 8
Apr. 2018.
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Figure 2. Cocaine seizure volume on flights to Europe by country of embarkation(January 2006-May 2008)

II. LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL TOOLS
Until the 1980s, Decree No. 53-100 of 5 October 1953 established the Public Health Code that governed
drug offences. Since the adoption of Law No. 88-686 of July 22th 1988 establishing repression against illicit
traffic and use of narcotics, psychotropic substances and poisonous substances, Côte dʼIvoire has had arepressive legal tool. Also, the country has set up specialized structures and agencies to fight against illicit
drug trafficking.
A. Criminal Justice System in Côte dʼIvoire
As a former French colony, Côte dʼIvoire has inherited from France the legal system of Civil Law, as
opposed to the Common Law system, which is mainly found in English-speaking countries. In accordancewith the principle of the right of appeal, in criminal cases as in civil cases, the judicial system is divided
between the Lower Courts ‒ which are the First Instance Courts ‒ and the Upper Courts ‒ or Appeal Courts.
First instance and Appeal Courts judge at the same time the facts and the law, whereas the Supreme Court
rules only on the legality of Lower Courtsʼ decisions.
Criminal courts punish infringements against property, individuals and society. The Penal Code, which
defines and punishes offences, and the Code of Penal Procedure, which establishes the framework of criminal
procedures, distinguish three types of public offences and the relevant courts which have jurisdiction to hearsuch matters. Thereby, contraventions that are minor offences are punishable by a maximum term of
imprisonment of 2 months and/or a fine that does not exceed CFA 360,000 (650 USD). They are referred to
the Tribunaux de simple police. Offences punishable by more than 2 months and less than 10 years of
imprisonment are called délits and are referred to the Tribunaux correctionnels. Finally, crimes that areserious felonies are heard by the Cours d’Assises, which are composed by three professional judges and six
jury members. When minors4 have committed crimes or délits, juvenile courts and juvenile assize courts aresolely competent to rule on such cases.
In some special cases such as criminal cases, or when the complexity of the case demands it, the Public

4

According to the Penal Code, a minor is a person who has not reached the age of 18 at the time of committing the offence.

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Prosecutor requires the opening of a judicial inquiry. He then seizes an examining judge who is in charge ofconducting investigation within the limits of the mandate given by the prosecutor in his initial indictment5.
This is the inquisitorial system, as opposed to the adversarial system used in Common Law countries.
At the end of his inquiry, if the judge finds that the charges are sufficient, he sends the case to the relevant
court for judgement. In Côte dʼIvoire, the principle of collegiality is applied in such a way that every hearing ispresided over by one judge (called the President) who is assisted by assessors. Most drug cases areinvestigated directly by law enforcement agencies under the supervision of the Public Prosecutor6.
B. The Existing Legal Framework for Investigation and Prosecution of Drug Offences
Côte dʼIvoire is party to the main treaties and conventions in the field of drugs and international crime.
Thus, it has acceded to:(i) The Single Convention of Narcotic Drugs, 1961;(ii) The Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1971;(iii) The United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances,
1988;(iv) The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, 2000.
At the national level, the provisions of the 1988 Act punish cultivation, production, manufacture,
extraction, preparation, possession, offering, offering for sale, distribution, purchase, sale, delivery on any
terms whatsoever, brokerage, dispatch, dispatch in transit, transport, importation and exportation of drugs.
The sentences of imprisonment under this text are severe and the perpetrators of these offences cannot
benefit from extenuating circumstances. For example, possession of drugs for consumption is punishable by aminimum sentence of twelve monthsʼ imprisonment and a fine of CFA 200, 000 (350 USD). Similarly,
possession of drugs for the purpose of sale is punishable by at least five years in prison and a fine of CFA
500,000 (900 USD).
In accordance with the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure, an investigator ̶ who shall be a
judicial police officer ̶ reports these offences to the Public Prosecutor, who decides on the mode ofprosecution. He can either choose the procedure known as flagrante delicto or require an investigating judge
to open a judicial inquiry.

A criminal case may be brought before an investigating judge either by the Public Prosecutor as well as a victim. Even in thesecond situation, the judge has to open a case after the initial indictment of the prosecutor. He cannot open a criminal
investigation sua sponte.
6
See paragraph B below.
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Chart 1. Investigation and prosecution in drug offence cases

DRUG OFFENCE

Reported by a judicial
police officer

The report comes to the
Public Prosecutor

Procedure offlagrante delicto

Judicial inquiry by
an examining judge

The cases that are referred to the Tribunal most frequently are those of consumption and narcotic sale.
Insofar as these are material offences, the seizure of the drug is one of the crucial elements upon which thejudgeʼs decision rests. Therefore, the investigatorʼs work must be meticulous.
C. Actual Drug Cases
The main cases of drug offences are those of consumption and sale. Two actual cases have been chosen to
be exposed in order to illustrate the current trends. The first one concerns three individuals who werebrought before the Criminal Court on charges of drug consumption. Following anonymous information,
officers of the Department of Narcotics and Drugs police had apprehended those three people and seized 400
grams of cannabis in the vicinity of a fumoir. During the pre-trial investigation, two of them admitted being
found in possession of cannabis, while the third claimed to have been arrested outside the fumoir. At thehearing, they all contested the charges against them. The Court found that the charge against the third
defendant, on whom no drugs had been found, was insufficient, and sentenced each of the two others to
twelve monthsʼ imprisonment and a CFA 200,000 (350 USD) fine, which is the minimum penalty for suchcases. In most of the consumption-related cases, when several people are arrested at the same time, theyoften name their provider or the owner of the fumoir. But the investigatorsʼ task is made difficult by the lackof information, which is most often limited to a nickname.
However, the second example demonstrates the effectiveness of some investigations. In a procedure inwhich two persons had been sentenced for heroin and cocaine sale, the defendant was named as the owner ofseveral fumoirs. Following a radio message from the Police Department of Narcotics and Drugs, the suspect
was arrested and interrogated. He told the investigating officers that he used to supply several drug sellers.
He has been brought before the Correctional Court under the charge of possession of drugs for sale. As he
had not been arrested in possession of drugs, the charge has been modified in that of facilitation to otherpeople of the use of narcotics, and he was sentenced to 10 yearsʼ imprisonment, CFA 10,000,000 (18,000 USD)
fine and his movable and immovable property was confiscated, as it was alleged to be the product of theoffence or to have been used to commit it.
In these two actual cases, as well as in the most common drug-related cases, the preliminary phase led by
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law enforcement agencies is crucial.
D. Governmental Structures and Specialized Agencies
The Ivorian government has set up numerous specialized agencies in charge of hunting and arresting
drug offenders:(i)

The Inter-ministerial Committee to Combat Drug Abuses (CILAD). Created by Decree No. 94-399 ofJuly 28, 1994, this committee coordinates the action of administrations and structures involved inprevention, information, medico-social care and the repression of drug addiction. It is overseen by the
Ministry of the Interior;(ii) The Police Department of Narcotics and Drugs (DPDS);(iii) The Anti-Drug Section of the National Gendarmerie;(iv) The Transnational Organized Crime Unit (UCT). Created by decree No. 2014-675 of November 5,2014 and supported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the UCTʼs core mission is tocombat all types of trafficking, fight against corruption and money laundering as well as maritime
piracy. It also has to provide the competent authorities with information for the development ofcontrol strategies and policies and to conduct investigations to gather evidence for prosecution;(v) The Airport Anti-Trafficking Cell. This unit gathers interministerial structures of the National Police,
National Gendarmerie, Customs and Waters and Forestry. It was created as part of the AIRCOP
Project7.
E. International Cooperation
By ratifying the main international conventions on the fight against drugs, Côte dʼIvoire has undertaken tocooperate with other States Parties. It therefore joined two major international projects.
1. Airport Communication Programme (AIRCOP)
This multi-agency project gathers the UNODC, the World Customs Organization (WCO) and theInternational Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) along with 24 countries in Africa, Latin America,
Europe and the Caribbean. Funded by the European Union, Canada, Japan, Norway and the United States, itaims to facilitate joint investigations and rapid exchange of operational information between law enforcement
agencies to promote intelligence-led investigations for intercepting drugs in participating countries.

Source; www.unodc.org
7

See Section C-1 below.

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In Côte dʼIvoire, the Joint Airport Interdiction Task Force is now operational, after several training andmonitoring sessions.
2. The West Africa Coast Initiative (WACI)At the regional level, the ECOWAS Action Plan to Address the Growing Problem of Illicit Drug
Trafficking, Organized Crime and Drug Abuse in West Africa is backed by the United Nations and
INTERPOL through the West Africa Coast Initiative (WACI). It is in a start-up phase in Côte dʼIvoire.
WACI is a joint technical assistance framework aimed at:

8'

Enhancing national enforcement and justice institutions; and to build capacity for better national,
regional and international enforcement cooperation;'

Creating Transnational Organized Crime Units (TCUs) for national inter-agency enforcement
coordination, information exchange and intelligence gathering, and serving as the entry and support
point for regional and international enforcement operations;'

Increasing regional and national capacity-building, primarily in the vulnerable countries, as identified
by ECOWAS (Côte dʼIvoire, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, and Sierra Leone);'

Contributing to security sector reform in the WACI countries.8

Presentation of the WACI <http://www.unodc.org/westandcentralafrica/en/newrosenwebsite/TOC/waci.html>

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