In the last decade, Guinea Bissau has been dubbed by several observers as a "narco-state", such as the prevalence of drug trafficking, including cocaine from South America bound for Europe. The scenario has changed in recent times, thanks to pressure from the international community, but there is evidence that domestic drug use has increased in a country that has only one treatment center to deal with the problem.

According to the Guinea-Bissau Observatory for Drugs and Drug Addiction (OGDT), drug use has increased in recent years, especially among youth, which poses a threat not only to national public health but also to the socioeconomic development of the country.

The president of OGDT, Abilio Aleluia Có Júnior, warns that the country is facing the problem of drug use among adolescents. “This very worrying, we need to bring together all state and non-state bodies to fight against this scourge in the country. "

Antero Lopes, head of UNIOGBIS department dealing with these issues, said that Guinea-Bissau being a fragile state ends up being a victim of drug trafficking and other international trafficking originating outside the country.

"Trafficking in drugs and transnational organized crime is a phenomenon that is at the root of political instability, affects the state of Guinea Bissau, affects the social fabric of the country and we are also concerned with reports that there is an increase of consumption, but we have to realize what kind of increase and what type of consumption, there has to be greater objectivity in this analysis, "added Antero Lopes.

The coordinator of the Intergovernmental Action Group on Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), Teresa Viegas, agrees that "drug trafficking, corruption, fraud and tax evasion are the main offenses underlying money laundering and that the result of this phenomenon has a great political and social impact ".

GIABA considers Guinea-Bissau a "highly vulnerable country with the potential to attract criminals" who are involved in money laundering. The organization also said that Guinea-Bissau remains a "fragile state" in terms of control structures, and "is therefore likely to be wanted by international crime."

With a score of 8.15, Guinea-Bissau was ranked in 2015 as the 4th most vulnerable country to money laundering in the world, according to a GIABA report.

Domingos Monteiro Correia, deputy national director of the Judiciary Police, ensures that institution reinforced actions to fight against trafficking from prevention to combating the entry of narcotics in the country. "At this moment we are dealing with seizures that have to do with the couriers that leave Brazil and that are managed by the organized crime networks. We recently made two or three major seizures at Osavaldo Vieira International Airport.".