Transnational drugs trafficking from West Africa to Southeast Asia: A case study of Vietnam

In recent years, the United Nations Office on Drug and Crimes (UNODC) has examined and verified that West Africa has become a prominent region for methamphetamine manufacture, which is then trafficked either directly or via Southern Africa and Western Europe to East and Southeast Asia. Although closed proximity to the Golden Triangle, as one of the major concerns drug production's sources in region, Vietnam has been faced the emerging phenomenon of foreigner' drug traffickers' groups from outside mainland Southeast Asian to commit, West African Drug Syndicate Networks (WADSNs) are not exception. Based on case studies as primary data, this study approaches content analysis' methods to analyze distinct characteristics of this syndicate in Vietnam. The key findings were identified that 1) the WADSNs utilize frequently with the diverse modus operandi to collect and transport illegal drugs between states via Southeast Asian countries as transit points; 2) women, including Vietnamese and non-Vietnamese' citizen, has been dominated as potential targets of the WADSNs to focus on recruiting; and 3) the sophistication and complexity of WADSNs' activities in terms of illicit narcotics have been continuing to expose for challenges with law enforcement of Vietnam and its neighbored countries in the Southeast Asian region when moving forward "drug free zone" in 2015.