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Photos: Guinea-Bissau, the World's First Narco-State

November 05, 2009 | TIME
By
Marco Vernaschi

Traffic
Since about 2005, West African nation of Guinea-Bissau has become a key hub for drug traffickers who move cocaine from South America to Europe. The country's extreme poverty, corrupt bureaucracy and relative proximity to South America — only five days by boat — make it especially vulnerable to the cartels that control the flow of the drug. Image by Marco Vernaschi. Guinea Baissau, 2009.

Dealers
The volume of drugs passing through the tiny coastal nation has multiplied many times over since the cartels arrived. The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that a quarter of all cocaine consumed in Western Europe — worth $18 billion on the streets — passes through West Africa, most of it via Guinea-Bissau. In this photo, men affiliated with the cartels prepare capsules containing cocaine that will be swallowed and then smuggled into Europe. Image by Marco Vernaschi. Guinea Baissau, 2009.

Armed and Dangerous
With the drugs and money have come an extraordinarily rapid rise in violent crime.Since about 2007, abductions, murders and threats have become commonplace in a country where internationally organized crime was unknown before. In this photo, an account is settled between dealers. Image by Marco Vernaschi. Guinea Baissau, 2009.

G Thing
Zamora, left, said he is a crack dealer; Mohamed, right, was convicted of carrying cocaine. Image by Marco Vernaschi. Guinea Baissau, 2009.

Ransacked
In March 2009, Guinea-Bissau's President, Joao Bernardo Vieira, was assassinated by soldiers who looted his house.A politician with a measure of popular support, Vieira presided over a country that is riddled by increasing crime and rampant corruption. Observers believe he was killed in retaliation for the death of a rival, General Batista Tagme Na Waie. Image by Marco Vernaschi. Guinea Baissau, 2009.

Blast
The soldiers who executed Vieira broke into his compound by shooting rockets with bazookas. Image by Marco Vernaschi. Guinea Baissau, 2009.

Cadre
The soldiers who executed Vieira pose for a photograph.In an interview conducted a few hours after the assassination, the men described with chilling details how and why they killed him. Three days later, some of the soldiers died in mysterious circumstances, and their corpses were sent to their villages, in the region of Mansoa, to be buried. Image by Marco Vernaschi. Guinea Baissau, 2009.

Portraits
Fatima, left, is a crack addict and prostitute; Patrick, a Liberian, was convicted of being a cocaine courier but is no longer in jail. Image by Marco Vernaschi. Guinea Baissau, 2009.

In the Grip
The flow of drugs through the country has taken a toll on the local population.Addiction to cocaine and crack is now rampant in a country where those drugs were virtually unheard of five years ago. Image by Marco Vernaschi. Guinea Baissau, 2009.

Mob Scene
Although the authorities insist that they want to tackle drug trafficking, they lack the necessary resources.There are almost no ships to patrol the coastline, and with few cars, little gas and no handcuffs or phones, the police are hard-pressed to keep order. Here, an officer tries to control a protest in the aftermath of Vieira's killing. Image by Marco Vernaschi. Guinea Baissau, 2009.

Jail?
Prison is hardly a deterrent, as inmates are free to leave from 2 to 6 p.m. Many return because the prison provides at least one free meal a day. Image by Marco Vernaschi. Guinea Baissau, 2009.

Broken
Of his country's vulnerability to the power of drug lords, Fafali Kudawo, a local academic, says,"The risk is that they will have a deep penetration of dirty money into politics, because this country is very, very fragile, and he who has money can do whatever he wants. You do not know at any given moment what will change the situation or lead the country to war or to violence." Image by Marco Vernaschi. Guinea Baissau, 2009.

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