In the days leading up to the start of the school year, the police have intensified their efforts to combat a new drug phenomenon known as “Kadhafi,” which has gained popularity through social networks. In recent days, nearly five tons of drugs, including a substantial amount of “Kadhafi,” have been seized, and a factory was dismantled in the Abobo commune.
Several dozen police officers enter the Abobo market. They search everywhere: in containers hidden under stalls, in boxes… The officers are looking for small vials containing a drug called “Kadhafi,” which is a mixture of tramadol and Vody, an energy drink.
“It’s almost all categories of young people who consume this drug. It can be drivers, residents of our various communities…,” explains Captain Olivier Dosso, chief police commissioner and district police chief of Abobo.
In Ivory Coast, tramadol is not a banned medication, so the police are specifically targeting “inferior and counterfeit quality” medicines. These products are readily accessible to people of all financial means, as Captain Kobé Bohi, in charge of the unit combating these types of medicines at the Directorate of Narcotics and Drugs, points out.
“The price of one tablet ranges from 500 to 1,000 CFA francs,” he says, emphasizing that just one tablet is enough to feel its effects. “It’s a new concept that attracts young people. But ‘kadhafi’ is potent and has detrimental effects on the consumer.”
The influence of social media has amplified its effect. Since July, the police say they have arrested around a hundred individuals involved in this drug trade.