The Wall Street Journal reports that Wagner Group mercenaries who remained in the Central African Republic have built a tramadol smuggling and distribution network. The synthetic opioid analgesic is used in medicine for pain relief, but in large doses it acts as a stimulant and, the newspaper says, is known as “the poor man’s cocaine.”
The paper says that while the standard medical dose is 50 to 100 milligrams, the drug is sold illegally in the CAR in tablets containing up to 200 milligrams. According to WSJ, tramadol is manufactured in India, shipped to the Democratic Republic of Congo, and then transported along the Ubangi River into the CAR, where Wagner mercenaries control its distribution.
The newspaper says miners buy the drug to work for hours at gold mines that are also controlled by Wagner. Militants reportedly use tramadol as well to suppress fear and increase aggression.
Citing data from Uppsala University, WSJ says the rise in tramadol use in the CAR coincided with an increase of nearly 20% in the number of people killed in battles for control of different parts of the country.
According to the report, the tramadol trade gave the group “new momentum after a string of setbacks.” The business not only brings in revenue, but also helps the organization maintain control over gold extraction. Experts estimate Wagner’s earnings from gold mining in the CAR at about 180 million dollars a year.
WSJ writes that about 500 Wagner mercenaries remain in the CAR and that the group is led by Pavel Prigozhin, the son of Yevgeny Prigozhin. After the mutiny and Prigozhin’s death in 2023, the private military company was officially dissolved, and its operations in Africa and the Middle East were reportedly set to be transferred to the Russian Defense Ministry. However, BBC Russian Service reported in the summer of 2024 that the group in the CAR continued to operate in much the same format.