Who is flooding West Africa with dangerous opioids? The BBC goes undercover to find out.
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For more than a decade, West Africa has been in the grip of an opioid crisis. Illegal, addictive, dangerous pills are sold on the streets.
But who’s making these tablets?
Who’s packaging them to look like medicines?
And who’s shipping them into Africa by the container load?
#BBCAfricaEye and #BBCEye Investigations trace the opioid route back to India — and go undercover to expose some of the men profiting from other people’s misery.
00:00 Introduction
01:43 Opioid addiction in Kano, northern Nigeria
07:22 Nigeria’s crackdown on opioid trafficking
11:35 India as pharmacy of the world
14:08 Citizens’ Task Force drug raid in Tamale, Ghana
21:19 Who’s making the drugs in Tamale?
23:34 Addiction specialist explains harm of “Tafrodol” combination pill
25:27 New opioid on the streets: “Tafrodol”
27:00 Who is manufacturing it?
29:06 Undercover inside the factory
37:45 “Nowadays, this is business”
41:28 Ghanaian imports of opioids
46:14 Burning seized drugs in Tamale
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🚨UPDATE 23/02/25: India bans two opioids behind crisis in West Africa in response to this investigation:
📽️ Watch this investigation in HINDI here:
in TAMIL here:
in PUNJABI here:
in HAUSA here:
in SWAHILI here:
and in FRENCH here:
Africa Eye brings you original, investigative journalism revealing secrets and rooting out injustice in the world’s most complex and exciting continent. Nothing stays hidden forever.
🎞️ Check out all Africa Eye investigations here:
📰 Read more about this investigation here:
***
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#India #Nigeria #Ghana #documentary #indianpharma #indiadocumentary #documentaries #investigativejournalism #undercover #BBCAfrica
🚨UPDATE 23/02/25: India bans two opioids behind crisis in West Africa in response to this #BBCEye and #BBCAfricaEye investigation: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdx2vwg8gq1o
📽 Watch this investigation in HINDI here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyF4ZNIgs7Y
in TAMIL here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PA8OMyFOSY
in PUNJABI here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDsVlGfuxMw
in HAUSA here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0I-8WvRT2U
in SWAHILI here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nstn_wVhlDI
and in FRENCH here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha9fku2LqDg
Click here to subscribe to our channel 👉🏽 http://bit.ly/subscribetoafrica
🎞 Check out all #BBCAfricaEye investigations here: http://bit.ly/bbcafricaeye
📰 Read more about this investigation here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyew21yyjzo
thank you for this documentary! the red 225s have made their way to New Zealand and I’ve been doing research on them as I want to know what I ate off the ground yesterday. Very interesting. Great work.
Jo, west Africa is wild. Southern Africa we have a chance to make it, let's appreciate what we have.
Every nonsense product is dumped on Africans, sad.
Bbc the racist hypocrites stop crying wolf just because you pink pirates are not getting a slice of the pie please stay in your lane and play ball with your zio/christ banking dynasties and thugs on remaining silent of a current genocide taking place as i write this
Most of the elites of india look down on fellow Indians so selling poisonous drugs to Africans is no issue to them. If they could do it easier inside india they would do it happily.
Its sad but the African governments need to do more to both protect their people and to give work to them.
Africa has so much potential but the roots of corruption are deep. I always pray for the people of africa because they have suffered for so long and deserve better
Why don't BBC make a documentary on Opium Wars and role of United Kingdom in the same
So India is the epicenter of Drugs,terrorism,Hatemongers,cyber terrorism
The Saffron Terrorism is real,world particularly Uncle Sam needs to open its eyes 🙏
Tramadol is the weakest opioid you can get and has little to no euphoria, I don't really understand why people would seek it out.
India ,we get a problem ,too many government bribes.
I think much of this investigation should be done in India,not Nigeria
love the way he casually describes "chaining them" as if its a normal practice or even remotely ok to do so lol
JAI HIND!
It doesn't matter what it is. If people want something then that creates a market and people willing to supply that market. No amount off money thrown at drugs, human slavery, illegal immigration or anything that politicians try to ban will work. There is too many poor people working in the supply chain and too much money for rich criminals to turn their backs on. Legalise all drugs, tax them and set up treatment centres and education about the dangers and pleasures off drugs. Let's face it, if the first time you take a drug was a shitty feeling 99% you wouldn't try it again. Drugs do give you a good feeling. But depends on what drug. I'm opiate dependant on a methadone script. Don't mess with heroin. It's definitely fun at the beginning but then it soon turns too hell.
Total corruption is the big problem in India and Africa
this is cool
V Sharma should’ve been asked if he’s willing take one or two tablets for us.
I hate to say this but if this is the same tramadol that we have in North America, it’s barely an opioid. Tramadol is not really considered an opioid. It must be stronger and things must adulterated with stronger opioids, it must be cut with OxyContin or other stronger opioids because tramadol on its own won’t even give the user withdrawal. Even 225 mg of tramadol is like taking a Tylenol #2 maybe at the most. Anyway just thought I’d step up with this information after working in the field for 25 yrs.
😢
The 'war on drugs' has been lost. The oldest boddiest found on the planet have been found with opiates and marijuana and cocaine. People take drugs.. It seems they always have done… and making them illegal doesn´t seem to stop this humam behavior, Make it legal, give addicts cards to prove they are addicts, this is so they can buy cheap and clean drugs from a pharmacy. All theft crime that comes from addiction and the stigma that addicts are labeled with
all come from the crime from the price being high because they are illegal. For example a dose of morphine cos pennies to make, the real name of heroin is diamorphie, if they stuck some tax on top and mADE a hit 50cents for example and used that money for rehab programs you would immediately destroy the black market and gang controlno future addicts in coming generations- and offer current addicts a way out 'when they are ready'. This would have prevented things like fentanyl, and crack coming out cos the power would be back under our controlThey are still transported into countries especially by sea sailors! Nigeria/Cameroon it's very common, yet the government officers who catches them or who knows about this,only collect money from the dealers who sell this things! I was told there is a big house around my country side Cameroon called Victoria-limbe that young people go there and take this for hundreds of thousands,some millions….yet the government is aware but is not stopping them but collecting money to enrich themselves over this while they future leaders remain frustrated and they remain ruling us even as they are aged like that
I was an opioid addict for 10+ years. The only pills I would have taken over Trams were Opana (super strong opioid). This is because 1000mg of vicodin or Percs gets you high for 3 to 4 hours, but 700mg of Tram will last 12 hours or more. This also means getting off them takes WAY longer. The withdrawal from Trams is HORRIBLE, and it lasts for a week or more. No sleep, constant pain, and a depression that is impossible to explain. I feel for these people, I know there pain. Fight it, you can always come back. If I did it, you can too! God bless.
our corrupt african presidents and western powers do more damage than any tramadol on daily basis by looting resources.This is just a symptom to a larger issue.
DJ Aqeel- According to DNA, DJ Aqeel, too, was caught with the drug ecstasy in his bag at the Dubai international airport, but later discharged.
Mamta Kulkarni – In the 90’s she was the most demanded actress due to her glamour. But later she was arrested by Kenya police for drugs dealing.
Sanjay dutt – He woke up one day and was told by his servant that he had been asleep for two days. “I went to Sunil Dutt, my father, at 7 in the morning, told him that I need help, I am a drug addict”, he confessed. No body asked from where he got the drugs for his regular uses?
Ranbir kapoor told India Today in 2013, “It was hard to get in the moment on stage with 300 bored junior artistes posing as a real audience. Pot made those moments feel real.”
Gauri khan, wife of the most famous Bollywood actor shahrukh khan, when she was held in Berlin airport because she was carrying ‘marijuana’ and surprisingly she was set free when it was agreed that it was for her personal consumptions. But nobody ever asked her about how she got that.
Inda only known in the medicine world for under dosing rubish pills
Like America did China. India is no friend of Africa