Editing Economy of Guinea-Bissau (section)

==Drug trafficking==

Over the last decade European consumption of cocaine is believed to have tripled,<ref>{{cite magazine
| last = Walt
| first = Vivienne
| title =  Cocaine Country
| magazine = [[Time (magazine)|Time]]
| date = 2007-06-27
| url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1637719,00.html
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070701102908/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1637719,00.html
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = July 1, 2007
| access-date = 2009-07-13 }}</ref> and West Africa has become a primary transit point for trafficking the drug from Colombia to Europe.<ref>{{cite news
| title = Guinea Bissau requests INTERPOL assistance following major drugs seizure
| publisher = [[Interpol]]
| date = 2008-07-21
| url = http://www.interpol.int/public/News/2008/GuineaBissau20080721.asp
| archive-url = http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20080814042002/http://www.interpol.int/public/News/2008/GuineaBissau20080721.asp
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = 2008-08-14
| access-date = 2009-07-13 }}</ref> Guinea-Bissau is the leading West African country in this regard, with smugglers taking advantage of government corruption and disorder to operate unimpeded.<ref>{{cite news|last=Parenti |first=Christian |title=The Drug Coast |work=[[Playboy]] |date=February 2009 |url=http://www.playboy.com/articles/the-drug-coast-playboy-forum/index.html |access-date=2009-07-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090601001430/http://www.playboy.com/articles/the-drug-coast-playboy-forum/index.html |archive-date=June 1, 2009 }}</ref>
The army and police are alleged to be complicit, and a lack of boats or planes to patrol or control the vast sea-zone further brings them to turn a blind eye to cocaine shipments from Latin America.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2008-03-09|title=How a tiny West African country became the world's first narco state|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/mar/09/drugstrade|access-date=2020-10-17|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref> The local population does not have access to the drug. Planes fly in, and use Guinea-Bissau's 88 remote islands, the majority of which are uninhabited.