About 500 Wagner Group fighters who remained in the Central African Republic after Yevgeny Prigozhin’s death have built a network for supplying and distributing the opioid drug tramadol, The Wall Street Journal reported.
According to the newspaper, the group in the CAR is headed by Pavel Prigozhin, the founder’s son. After the organization’s main assets came under the control of the Russian authorities, the unit in the CAR allegedly retained substantial autonomy thanks to its control over local resources, including gold mines.
The paper says, citing an estimate by GI-TOC, that illegal gold exports bring the group about $180 million a year. WSJ writes that tramadol trafficking became another source of revenue.
Tramadol is a legal opioid painkiller, but in large doses it causes dependency and is used as a stimulant. The drug is unofficially known as “cocaine for the poor” because it suppresses fatigue, hunger, and fear. GI-TOC researcher Natalia Dukhan told WSJ that people who take large doses fall into a “pharmacological trance.”
According to the newspaper, most of the drug is produced in India and officially exported to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The tablets are then smuggled along the Ubangi River into the CAR. From there, structures linked to Wagner control distribution inside the country and shipments to neighboring African states, including Cameroon.
WSJ reports that in Cameroon the value of a shipment can triple: a batch worth $7,000 can bring in $21,000. At the same time, smugglers are said to pay about $4,000 in bribes along the route to Wagner fighters and affiliated groups.
A former Wagner associate in Africa, now living in Europe, told the newspaper that tramadol is supplied, among others, to members of the CAR presidential guard and to the youth group “Sharks,” which takes part in armed patrols around Bangui and, he said, beats opposition supporters. The paper also says that mercenaries linked to Wagner are integrated into the army and local militias, using smuggling revenue to buy weapons and expand their influence.