The Russian paramilitary group Wagner, once weakened by the death of its founder Yevgeny Prigojine in 2023, has found a new lifeline in the Central African Republic (CAR) through the illicit trade of tramadol. According to The Wall Street Journal, Wagner has established what experts describe as a “drug empire” in the resource-rich but politically fragile nation.
Originally prescribed for mild pain, tramadol in CAR is being repackaged into a highly concentrated, stimulant-like opioid—often dubbed the “poor man’s cocaine”. The drug is smuggled via river routes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and distributed across CAR, with Wagner overseeing its trade not only domestically but also to neighboring countries at inflated prices.
A Wagner fighter provides security for Central African President Faustin-Archange Touadéra in Bangui.
Wagner’s expanding operations in Central Africa
Despite its diminished presence elsewhere in Africa—where it has been largely replaced by Russia’s state-backed Africa Corps—Wagner remains deeply embedded in CAR. The group, now led by Prigojine’s son Pavel and numbering around 500 fighters, has leveraged the country’s weak governance, mineral wealth (gold, diamonds, uranium), and dense forests to sustain its operations.
Wagner not only profits from gold mining in areas under its control—generating an estimated $180 million (€160 million) annually in illicit exports, per the Global Initiative—but also wields significant political influence. Analysts from the U.S.-funded Center for Strategic and International Studies describe Wagner as exercising “state control” in CAR, consolidating power through alliances with local elites and armed factions.
Tramadol as a tool of control and coercion
Beyond its financial gains, tramadol serves Wagner as a means of exerting influence over key groups. The drug is reportedly distributed to:
- Members of the presidential guard and the pro-Russian militia known as the “Sharks”, who patrol Bangui and suppress opposition voices;
- Gold miners working for Wagner, ensuring their compliance through addiction;
- Protesters rallying in support of Moscow’s agenda;
- Combatants involved in counterinsurgency operations, “to boost their morale and aggression”.
Experts quoted in The Wall Street Journal warn that Wagner’s tramadol network could extend into neighboring Sudan, facilitated by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), whose operations increasingly overlap with CAR’s borders.
