[Guinean news] Boké drugs raid nets local officials

A cocaine bust in the eastern town of Boké has seen the arrest of the mayor and top police officials as well as the region's governor.

An aircraft allegedly carrying a large quantity of cocaine mysteriously landed and took off early on Thursday [Sept. 5] in Boke.

The officials were taking to Conakry for questioning.

Drugs' trafficking is an increasing problem in parts of Guinea, as neighboring Guinea-Bissau is widely acknowledged to have become Africa's first narco-state.

[African news] How Guinea-Bissau is becoming a narco-state

The BBC World Service has a troubling documentary explaining how Guinea-Bissau has become the central transit point for South American drugs traffickers ferrying cocaine to Europe.

The Council on Foreign Relations has information on it as well.

While this may not affect Guinea directly right now, the prospect of having a failed state run by drugs smugglers on Guinea's northwestern border is not a tantalizing one. Given the failed or barely recovering states on Guinea's southern and eastern borders and given the increasingly dysfunctional nature of Guinea's own institutions, Guinea could do without this further destabilizing influence.