How ‘embedded state actors’ drive organised crime in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa
Suspects arrested in Nigeria over a $278 million cocaine haul following a raid on a warehouse in Lagos on September 18, 2022. From 2019 to 2025, cocaine was the fastest-growing market, while synthetic drugs have surged most since 2023.
Embedded state actors, mafia-style groups and criminal networks continue to play a role in organised crime in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya, a new report shows.
The fourth edition of the Africa Organised Crime Index 2025 says the most prevalent criminal actors have been state-embedded actors, who enable criminal markets, undermine governance structures and weaken state capacity to respond to organised crime
