Kush, the zombie drug

Translated by Irene Cecchi

The zombie drug

Forty times stronger than fentanyl, a synthetic drug made in a lab by mixing cannabinoids, opiates, nitazenes, synthetic compounds like sanitizers and other commercial products like shoe polish or bug spray, Kush is drug whose fast and deadly spread in Western Africa made the World Health Organization (WHO) define it a pandemic. To stop its diffusion, the WHO declared the will to support the most affected countries: Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

It’s exactly in Sierra Leone where Kush first appeared years ago. The President Julius Bio declared: “Our Country is facing an existential threat because of the consequences of drug abuse”. A big part of the society lives in extreme poverty, exacerbated by the psychological distress of a ten years long civil war (1991-2002) and the Ebola epidemic that affected Western Africa in the 2014/2016 period. The wide spreading of Kush is related to the extremely low price of this drug: one dose is worth between 20 cents and a dollar, next to nothing even for a poor country.

The drug is produced locally; the cannabis is cultivated all over Sierra Leone and Fentanyl is illegally produced and imported from China. In addition, the authorities believe that human bones are added to this mortal mix and this is why security forces are guarding over cemeteries for months now.

Doctor Feyi Ogunade, the Regional Organised Crime Observatory Coordinator for Western Africa, underlined that Kush is mainly used by young adults and it causes “disorientation, (...) and a long state of euphoria similar to hypnosis during wich you lose contact with reality for hours”.

Salifu Kamara, a 21 years old consumer of Kush, estimates that around 80% of youth in his neighborhood is consuming the drug and says “It makes you forget everything. We are under pressure, there are no jobs, there’s nothing here”

How are terrorist organizations involved?

The severity of the situation is not only related to the social effects of drug consumption. Kush widespread diffusion is only the tip of the iceberg of the phenomenon that is making the Sahel region the central hub for global drug trafficking coming from Asia and Latin America and headed to Europe.

In fact, in 2022 cocaine confiscation increased exponentially in the Sahel region, going from an average of 13 kilos per year in the period between 2015 and 2020 to the 1466 kilos of 2022. According to UNODC evaluations, this would be the synonym of a full-scale drug trafficking organization in the region.

Amado Philip de Andrés, UNODC Regional Representative for West & Central Africa, underlines that “the growth of drug flows in the regions is a threat to peace and security, (...) it’s a source of gain for armed gangs and their illegal activities”.

Una descrizione ancora più dettagliata della complessa interazione fra le reti criminali che ruotano intorno al traffico di droga è quella fatta lo scorso aprile dallo United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRIS). “Guardare a questa intersezione tra terrorismo e criminalità organizzata attraverso la lente del traffico di droga offre una prospettiva unica sui legami che i diversi gruppi possono sviluppare e mette in evidenza la complessità della minaccia. Infatti, il coinvolgimento di gruppi terroristici o armati nel traffico di droga rappresenta una fonte di guadagno e l'opportunità di acquisire esperienza nel trasferimento illecito e nel riciclaggio dei proventi delle transazioni illecite. Allo stesso tempo, i trafficanti di droga possono beneficiare delle capacità tattiche e delle forniture di armi delle organizzazioni terroristiche.”

A more detailed description of the complex relation between criminality and drug trafficking has been released last April by the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRIS): “Looking at this connection between terrorism and criminality through the lens of drug trafficking gives a unique perspective on the relations between different groups and on the severity of the threat. In fact, the involvement of terrorist groups in the drug market represents for them a source of income and an opportunity to gain experience in illegal activities like transaction and laundering. At the same time, drug traffickers can benefit from terrorist groups’ tactical abilities and arms provisions”

In the case of Western Africa, where big shares of territories are under terrorist groups’ control like Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), Islamic State in the Greater Sahara(ISGS), Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) e Boko Haram, their involvement in drug trafficking hasn’t emerged yet, but it doesn’t mean that it won’t happen in the future.

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