Senegal and the Canary Islands’ strategic role in new drug-trafficking routes: From transit to an Atlantic logistics hub

CONVIERTE CANARYMARITIME EN FUENTE DE NOTICIAS EN GOOGLE

The map of international drug trafficking linking Latin America with the European continent is undergoing a rapidly accelerating structural transformation. What began in the early 2000s as a secondary transit route through **West Africa** has solidified into a complex network for **storage**, **redistribution** and **maritime route diversification**. In this scenario, the port of **Dakar** and the **Canary Islands** play a key role within the so-called **‘Highway 10’** (the route running along the **10th parallel north**).

The **‘Highway 10’**

Illicit substances passing along the Atlantic coasts of **West Africa** is no longer **episodic** but has become **industrial**. According to estimates by the **Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC)**, about **one third** of the **cocaine consumed in Europe** passes through West African ports, with projections that this figure will reach **50% by 2030**. **South American criminal organizations** use the region’s ports — **with Dakar leading** — as a logistics screen. By consolidating or transshipping cargo in **West Africa**, the “cleaned” goods **formally erase** their origin. A container carrying documentation issued in **Senegal** will draw less suspicion from **European Union customs** than a shipment sent directly from the ports of **Colombia**, **Brazil** or **Ecuador**.

Cocaine trafficking to the **European Union** has reached **unprecedented levels**, driven by the historical peak in production in **Latin America** and sustained demand in the community market. Faced with greater pressure from traditional customs controls, criminal organizations have restructured their operations through the **fragmentation of maritime routes** and the deployment of **highly technical concealment methods**.

Canary Islands hub

The movement of illegal substances through **West Africa** has shifted from a mere incidental transit point to a **key logistics hub** for **storage** and **redistribution**. The recurring operation involves transferring cargo from **South American mother ships** to auxiliary vessels in the **high seas** off the African coast. From these enclaves, the drugs are re-shipped to the **European Union’s** continental territory or redirected to the **Canary Islands**, using **rigid-hull inflatable boats** to bring the shipments into **peninsular Spain** via river arteries such as the **Guadalquivir River**.

The sophistication of criminal networks is reflected in the systematic use of **carrier materials** to mask the substance. Cocaine is chemically integrated into **industrial equipment**, **machinery**, **plastics**, **textiles** or **food**, a method designed to evade detection by **customs scanners**, **conventional reagents** and **canine units**. At the same time, nautical groups have incorporated advanced technologies ranging from the use of **semi-submersibles** and **autonomous vessels** to **encrypted communication networks** and **drones**, consolidating a strategic shift in **cannabis trafficking** toward the **cocaine** market.

The operation ‘**Sombra Negra**’, coordinated by Spanish authorities with support from **Europol**, has highlighted the scope of this transatlantic maritime infrastructure. The investigation, carried out in two phases between **June and November 2025**, resulted in **101 arrests in Spain and Portugal** and the seizure of **more than ten tonnes** of cocaine transported in vessels capable of exceeding **70 km/h**. Not to mention the **UCO** operation of the **Spanish Civil Guard (Guardia Civil)** near the islands on the **Arkana** with **30 tonnes of cocaine in 2026**.

From Europol’s executive director, **Catalina De Bolle**, and the European commissioner for **Home Affairs and Migration**, **Magnus Brunner**, there are calls for an equally dynamic policing response based on **analytical intelligence** and **financial surveillance**. The EU strategy prioritizes cooperation between **customs**, **security forces** and the **private sector** through the **European Ports Alliance**, along with strengthening **forensic expertise** to detect hidden compartments and locate **clandestine chemical extraction laboratories**.

The article Senegal and the Canary Islands’ strategic role in new drug-trafficking routes: From transit to an Atlantic logistics hub was first published on canarymaritime.com.

CONVIERTE CANARYMARITIME EN FUENTE DE NOTICIAS EN GOOGLE