Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control to Hold Hearing on Drug Threats in West Africa

The hearing examined drug trafficking and U.S. efforts to counter emerging narcotics-related threats in West Africa.In 2009, wholesale profits to cocaine traffickers in West Africa were estimated at $800 million.  Methamphetamine labs were recently found for the first time on the continent.  Narcotics trafficking contributed to a recent coup in Guinea Bissau and threatens to destabilize other key U.S. allies in West Africa.

West Africa hearing transcript

Senator Feinstein's Statement | Senator Grassley's Statement

Witnesses:

Thomas Harrigan (Testimony) 
Deputy Administrator, Drug Enforcement Administration

William Brownfield (Testimony)
Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, State Department

Johnnie Carson (Testimony)
Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, State Department

William Wechsler (Testimony)
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Counternarcotics and Global Threats, Department of Defense