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COTONOU, Benin (AP) - In one of this city's relatively posh neighborhoods, there is a compound full of specialists.
Some who work within the high-walled enclosure are experts in crushing cocaine bars and tying the powder into waterproof pellets for couriers to swallow. Others are adept at dismantling suitcases or electronic gadgets to hide cocaine.
The compound is part of a drug trafficking problem that is rapidly spreading from Nigeria to the west coast of Africa, leading to a new surge of drugs flowing into Europe. Since 2004, seizures of Europe-bound cocaine in Africa have risen fivefold, reaching a record 5.7 metric tons in the first nine months of last year, according to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, or UNODC.
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