Russian influence in Africa

Former Wagner soldiers have a drug empire in Africa

Around 500 former mercenaries from the Russian Wagner Group have settled along the Ubangi River in the Central African Republic and started a drug empire, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Outside the reach of the law and Moscow, they sell tramadol, a painkiller opioid. The pills come mainly from India and are transported in via river from neighboring Congo-Kinshasa.

They are sold to miners in the Russian gold mines, to militiamen in the civil war and – according to a source with former Wagner connections – to the president’s bodyguards.

The Russian group has essentially taken control of the state, according to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies.

– The Central African Republic is the country where Wagner was strongest. Their economic assets in the country, such as gold mines, remain intact, says analyst Charles Bouëssel. 

The leader of the Russians in Africa: Prigozhin's son

28-year-old Pavel Prigozhin leads the group of former Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group who have built a tramadol empire in the Central African Republic, reports the Wall Street Journal.

He is the son of Yevgeny Prigozhin, who died in a suspected Kremlin-orchestrated plane crash after the Wagner uprising in 2023.

Wagner soldiers arrived in the Central African Republic in 2018 after being hired by Faustin-Archange Touadéra to put down an uprising.

Using Toyota Land Cruisers and armed helicopters, the Russians managed to prevent the rebels from taking the capital Bangui. Since then, they have remained, gaining in-depth knowledge of the country and infiltrating the state apparatus.