INTERVIEW-Dramatic fall in West African drug trafficking
* Number of seizures falls sharply
* Political change and international pressure help
* Maintaining political will vital
By Matthew Tostevin
DAKAR, June 26 (Reuters) - Drug trafficking through West Africa's fragile states has fallen dramatically because of political changes and growing international pressure, the U.N. body fighting drugs and crime said.
A surge in the smuggling of Colombian cocaine through West Africa to Europe in recent years destabilised countries such as Guinea-Bissau, where the president was killed in a flare-up in March and an election is due on Sunday.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said smuggling had fallen since the middle of last year.
"We have witnessed a dramatic reduction of cocaine transiting West Africa," said Antonio Mazzitelli, regional head of the U.N. body.
"If the political will at national level is maintained, the route can be closed down," he told Reuters on Thursday.
A report showed the proportion of cocaine seized in Europe that had passed through Africa fell from 28 percent of the total in 2007 to 7 percent in 2008. No large seizures in the first three months of 2009 could be traced back to Africa.
Mazzitelli attributed the drop partly to changes in the region.
In Guinea-Bissau, a year that brought coup attempts, the killing of the army chief and the assassination of President Joao Bernardo Vieira has also removed many of those who had been most closely linked to trafficking.
In neighbouring Guinea, the junta that took over after the death of President Lansana Conte in December has arrested some of his family members and accused former army and navy chiefs of smuggling.
An opposition victory in Ghana's elections also brought in a government that stressed its readiness to stop trafficking.
"The fact that big traffickers do not any longer have certain partners in power clearly have disrupted the routes," said Mazzitelli. "A trafficker would never bring 2 tonnes of drugs to a country where he is not sure he can operate."
An increase in international attention to the dangers of drug trafficking through West Africa had also been an important factor, pushing regional politicians to take more action to respond to the problem.
The danger had not disappeared, but could be kept under control while the international funding continued and the local political will was maintained, he said.
There were also signs the smugglers could try to move operations to central and even east Africa, but that would only increase their logistical difficulties and their cost of doing business.
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