On Tuesday, I attended the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs hearing investigating the regional impact of drug trafficking in West Africa and America’s response to the problem. Senator Russ Feingold, who chaired the hearing, affirmed his commitment to this issue, outlining the need for both short and long term counter-narcotics strategies, including government and institutional reform and heightened interdiction efforts.

The panel of witnesses consisted of the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Johnnie Carson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Counternarcotics and Global Threats, William Wechsler, and Chief of Operations of the Drug Enforcement Agency, Thomas Harrigan.

Ambassador Carson cited the high rates of poverty and political corruption, as well as the lack of proper border security amongst West African nations as the primary reasons behind the increased drug trade activity in the region. Without properly combating the drug traffickers’ efforts in West Africa, Ambassador Carson cautions about the spread of the drug trade and its destabilizing consequences to the rest of Africa, where incidents of drug trafficking have increased in Ethiopia and South Africa. There is still hope however, as Ambassador Carson pointed to anti-narcotics successes in Nigeria, saying that if the U.S. focuses its efforts in the region, “we can make a difference.”

Thomas Harrigan of the Drug Enforcement Agency focused on the need for building the investigative capacity of local law enforcement officials to combat drug trafficking, citing the successful working relationships between the DEA and Ghanaian law enforcement officials.

William Wechsler, of the Department of Defense, stressed the need for increased regional naval capacity and border security, and highlighted AFRICOM’s successful interdiction efforts in Africa.

Members of the subcommittee present at the hearing included Senators Russ Feingold, Johnny Isakson, and Ted Kaufman. Senator Isakson was interested in the prevalence of terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah in the West African drug trade, while Senator Feingold was concerned with the amount of U.S. diplomatic presence and lack of human intelligence on the ground in the region.

-Darren Nowels, ONE US Government Relations Intern