A few weeks ago, a news outlet reported that “Two Bissau Guineans had been arrested by operatives of the Drug Enforcement Agency The Gambia (DLEAG), with 104 suspected blocks of cocaine, according to DLEAG with 4000 Euros and 2,950 Dalasis believed to be proceeds of the cocaine was found in possession of the suspect.”It seems people got immune to hearing massive illegal drug seizures, as with the frequency of such reports, nothing gets done about the actors. This latest report got preceded by the news, “Brussels Airport employees were involved in a criminal organisation smuggling drugs from Banjul, Gambia. They would hide drugs in several suitcases among the luggage on flights from Banjul, and their role was to remove these suitcases from the plane and hand them over to other gang members outside the airport”. Still, our government authorities didn’t detect the suspects within the network of traffickers at our end. Instead, they released a lousy press statement full of excuses and coverups for their inefficiency or complicity.Usually, it’s the small local players, those that are at the bottom of the ladder, that are arrested. The most important suspects are ignored, or if names are mentioned, it’s usually in the context of their having absconded outside the jurisdiction of the law enforcement officers, as in the case of Banta Keita or the Turkish associate linked to the vessel laden with drugs which were anchored off Denton Bridge and the Seizure of a large amount of Cocaine from this vessel on the High seas in Senegal. Since President Barrow’s administration came into office, the vast seizure of illegal drugs can be considered the tip of the iceberg; the trafficking of drugs that go undetected must be more significant, and the country associated with the trafficking of illicit drugs connected to the network of the international Narco traders and the laundering of the proceeds of the drug trade within our small economy made it fair for the Gambia to be labelled a Narco state. It involves a major building of vast infrastructure to handle the operation of a multimillion investment to trade hundreds of tons of Cocaine, accounting for the detected or undetected consignment that would not be shipped to the Gambia. The Cartel will seek a guarantee if the Cartel doesn’t penetrate all legitimate areas for their investments and their safety, which will mean infiltrating all the relevant institutions, the powerful and wealthy elite with political and economic influence to facilitate the illegal drug trade. Can the state authorities explain why the continued seizure of massive illegal drugs without significant arrest or exposure of the unlawful Drug Cartel network linked to the international drug trade led the Gambia to a Narco State? We know that imported cocaine isn’t for domestic consumption, and the Cartel requires economic actors with sophisticated financial mechanisms for the illicit proceeds to be laundered. Who are those acting as the Political buyers protecting the Drug Cartel or the Economic Partners trafficking the drugs onwards to more prosperous nations and laundering the proceeds from the trade?