The Challenges of Organized Crime in Gabon: A Comprehensive Overview

Environmental Crime: The Devastating Impact on Gabon’s Ecosystems

Organized crime has a significant impact on Gabon’s environment, with widespread forest crimes and wildlife trafficking being major concerns.

Forest Crimes: Industrial logging companies bribe ministers to obtain timber concessions, leading to the destruction of Gabon’s forests.
Rosewood Trade: Gabon is one of the top timber-exporting countries to China, suggesting a significant volume of rosewood being illegally traded.
Wildlife Crimes: Poaching of forest elephants in Minkébé National Park is a major problem.

Drug Trafficking: A Growing Concern for Gabon’s Society

Drug trafficking is also a significant issue in Gabon, with cannabis and synthetic drugs being widely used.

Cannabis: Primarily brought from Cameroon, cannabis is the most commonly used drug in Gabon.
Cocaine: Gabon serves as an intra-continental transshipment point for cocaine that enters through West African and Central African entry points.
Synthetic Drugs: Tramadol is widely used, and synthetic drugs are a significant problem in Gabon.

Criminal Actors: The Complex Network of Organized Crime

Regular arrests of wildlife traffickers and seizures of ivory suggest the presence of active criminal networks in Gabon with cross-border operations.

Foreign Actors: Foreign actors from Asia are reportedly involved in forest crimes.
Human Trafficking: Loose, ethnically based criminal networks recruit victims across West and Central Africa for human trafficking.

Corruption and Governance: The Roots of Organized Crime

Systematic corruption and routine bribery involving public servants and decision-makers allow logging companies to engage in forestry crime while avoiding punishment.

Corruption: Complicity among judicial staff, including judges taking bribes from traffickers, is a significant problem.
Lack of Legislation: Gabon has ratified many international treaties related to organized crime but lacks effective legislation and implementation.

Criminal Justice and Security: The Challenges of Countering Organized Crime

There are no specialized judiciary units or law enforcement units tasked with countering organized crime in Gabon, leading to a lack of trust in the judiciary.

Judiciary: There have been reports of complicity among judicial staff.
Law Enforcement: No specialized units exist to counter organized crime.

Economic and Financial Environment: The Challenge of Legitimate Business

Gabon’s economic environment is not conducive to setting up and operating a legitimate business due to perceptions of weak governance and high levels of corruption.

Money Laundering: Money laundering is a criminal offense in Gabon, but there have been no prosecutions.
Business Environment: Perceptions of weak governance and high corruption levels hinder the establishment of legitimate businesses.

There are few mechanisms to help victims exit modern slavery, highlighting the need for support from civil society and social protection programs.

Victim Support: State-funded NGO shelters offer services to homeless and orphaned children at risk of trafficking.
Preventive Measures: Preventive measures such as GPS tracking collars for ivory trafficking and eco-guards patrolling national parks have been implemented.