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Islamabad [Pakistan]December 28 (ANI): Drug shipments from Pakistan have become the norm around the world including Africa and the Middle East, Geo-politik reported.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has a reputation as a center for drug trafficking and use, mainly among young people.
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According to Geo-politik, an international drug smuggling network stretches from Nigeria through some Gulf countries to Afghanistan, passing through Pakistan.
The most commonly used drugs in Nigeria are tramadol and codeine. It has no effect on the respiratory system, but overdose can cause cardiac arrhythmias, convulsions, coma and death.
In Nigeria, it is regulated in dosage strengths of 50 and 100 mg, but very high dosage forms of 200 and 225 mg have penetrated the market. Tramadol capsules are smuggled in large quantities through Pakistan.
With codeine, the risk of addiction is high, and in many countries, including Nigeria, consumers must have a prescription for all opioid-based medicines.
Abuse of codeine products can lead to serious health consequences, including liver damage, stomach ulcers, respiratory depression, coma, and death.
In Nigeria, even though all codeine-containing products have been produced locally since 2012 and are prescription medicines (POM), these products are still being smuggled into the country from Karachi as unregistered products, Geo-politik reported.
In the Middle East and Africa, the opioid tramadol is to blame for the opioid crisis. Pakistan is the largest supplier. The market for tramadol has shown signs of expansion in Nigeria and many African and Middle Eastern countries over the years, but the illegal drug trade now appears to be booming.
As recently as December 18, 2022, the Nigerian National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) issued a statement announcing that it had seized more than 1.7 million opioid tablets smuggled into Nigeria from South Africa and Pakistan, Geo-politik reported.
Drug shipments from Pakistan have become the norm in African countries. On February 16 this year, anti-narcotics officers seized 649,300 tramadol capsules imported from Pakistan via Addis Ababa through Ethiopian Airlines, each 225 mg and weighing 460.95 kg.
Furthermore, the Tramadol network in Pakistan is even linked to ISIS and Boko Haram, raising security concerns. According to Geo-politik, there have been several cases of seizures of tramadol from Pakistan destined for ISIS territory. (Arnie)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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