Poor Man's Cocaine, Rich Man's War: What a Pill Says About Wagner's Leftovers

Ghana's Interior Minister, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, told the nation on 24 August that security agencies had intercepted about 45.4 million tramadol tablets in 20 months, with 217 arrests and 165 prosecutions.We tend to see that as a local public-health problem. It is also a geopolitical one.

In July, the Wall Street Journal reported that up to 500 remnants of Russia's Wagner Group in the Central African Republic control the supply and distribution of tramadol, led by Pavel Prigozhin, son of Wagner's late founder.

The pills reportedly come from India via the Democratic Republic of Congo and up the Oubangui River. At the high doses common there, tramadol acts as a stimulant, which is why it is nicknamed the "poor man's cocaine." A researcher told the Journal that in combat, fear vanishes and agitation surges.

The report also says the trade funds weapons and militias, on top of roughly $180 million a year the Global Initiative estimates Wagner earns from illicit gold.

A caution belongs here. The claims about the fighter count, Pavel Prigozhin's leadership and the smuggling route come from one investigation. One analyst noted that official US, EU and UN records do not yet corroborate them.

The Journal's account also does not accuse Africa Corps of running the drug trade. Moscow had by 2026 formally moved its Central African mercenaries under the Africa Corps banner, after Touadéra's long resistance. The reported picture is of a Wagner remnant operating beyond both Central African law and Moscow's control.

Why this is Ghana's business
The supply chain is not confined to Bangui. When international pressure curbed the tramadol trade, Indian manufacturers shifted to tapentadol, a stronger opioid that no regulator has approved for use in Ghana.

Ghana's Food and Drugs Authority says it has never issued a permit for tapentadol of any strength.Bellingcat found that Sierra Leone and Ghana were the declared destinations for over 80 per cent of the value of tapentadol sent to the region between 2023 and 2025. Ghana's own Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) says shipments arrive mislabelled through seaports and courier services.

Ghana has done real work, including prevention sessions in schools, a network of district commands, and seizures of a record consignment at Tema. The gap is demand. The Interior Minister acknowledged that the state has no rehabilitation facility of its own, and NACOC reports that only 1,179 people received treatment across 30 centres in 2025.

What follows
Where the state is weak, a pill that costs pennies can buy courage, loyalty and guns. Cutting supply means pressing exporting countries to police their factories and sharing intelligence along the trafficking routes. Cutting demand means building the treatment services the minister says are missing. Both jobs need doing before the problem becomes a law unto itself.

Mustapha Bature Sallama
Medical/ Science Communicator,
Private Investigator, Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Analysis,

International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding. (USIP)

[email protected]
+233555275880

References
Adomonline, "Ghana seizes 8,500kg of narcotics, 45.4 million tramadol tablets in 20 months," 24 Aug 2026. https://www.adomonline.com/ghana-seizes-8500kg-of-narcotics-45-4-million-tramadol-tablets-in-20-months

Meduza, on the WSJ report, 13 Jul 2026. https://meduza.io/en/news/2026/07/13/wsj-wagner-group-mercenaries-still-in-the-central-african-republic-have-built-a-drug-empire-around-the-tramadol-trade

Euromaidan Press, "Wagner's remnants run an opioid empire in the Central African Republic, WSJ reveals," 12 Jul 2026. https://euromaidanpress.com/2026/07/12/wagners-remnants-run-an-opioid-empire-in-the-central-african-republic-wsj-reveals/

The Insider, "Remnants of Wagner Group led by Prigozhin's son control smuggling of the opioid tramadol." https://theins.press/en/news/294783

debugliesintel, "Prigozhin's Alleged CAR Tramadol Network." https://www.debugliesintel.com/prigozhins-alleged-car-tramadol-network-2031-risk/

The Africa Report, "From Wagner to Africa Corps: Touadéra finally submits to the new guard." https://www.theafricareport.com/413923/from-wagner-to-africa-corps-touadera-finally-submits-to-the-new-guard/

AFP via Africanews, "Synthetic drugs from India fuelling West Africa's opioid epidemic," May 2026. https://www.africanews.com/2026/05/14/synthetic-drugs-from-india-fuelling-west-africas-opioid-epidemic/

Ghana Food and Drugs Authority statement, Feb 2025. https://fdaghana.gov.gh/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/FDA-Responds-to-BBC-Africa-Eye-Investigation-Who-is-Flooding-West-Africa-with-Opioids.pdf

Bellingcat, "Painkiller Pipeline: 300 Million Tapentadol Pills Sent from India to West Africa," Apr 2026. https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/04/17/painkiller-pipeline-300-million-tapentadol-pills-sent-from-india-to-west-africa/

NewsGhana, "NACOC Seizes GH₵100m Tramadol At Airport." https://www.newsghana.com.gh/nacoc-seizes-gh%E2%82%B5100m-tramadol-at-airport/

MyJoyOnline, "NACOC arrests alleged kingpin… as Ghana marks World Drug Day." https://www.myjoyonline.com/nacoc-arrests-alleged-kingpin-behind-us296-million-meth-syndicate-as-ghana-marks-world-drug-day/