Politics, Security, and Drug Trafficking in West Africa Adam Sandor Thesis Submitted to the Faculty

376 Pages·2016·2.01 MB·English

Assemblages of Intervention: Politics, Security, and Drug Trafficking in West
Africa

Adam Sandor

Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in partial
fulfilment of the requirements for a doctoral degree in Political Science

School of Political Studies
Faculty of Social Sciences
University of Ottawa

© Adam Sandor, Ottawa, Canada, 2016
Table of Contents
Abstract: .................................................................................................................................. iv
Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. v
Accronyms ............................................................................................................................ viii
Chapter 1: Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1
Theorizing connected spaces of intervention .................................................................... 8
Case study justification: Capacity-building in Mali and Niger; AIRCOP; and the
Container Control Programme (CCP) ............................................................................ 13
Approach to Data Collection ............................................................................................ 18
Multi-sited Ethnography: looking for practices ............................................................... 19
Data Analysis ................................................................................................................... 25
Chapter Overview .............................................................................................................. 26
Chapter 2: Examining Existing Understandings of the Governance of Borderless
Threats .................................................................................................................................... 30
Security Studies and borderless threats .......................................................................... 32
The Copenhagen School’s Securitization Framework .................................................... 34
The Paris School critique of security ............................................................................... 41
Global Governance of Transnational Issues and their Limits ....................................... 46
Liberal accounts of Global Governance .......................................................................... 48
Realist accounts of Global Governance ........................................................................... 50
Constructivist accounts of Global Governance ............................................................... 51
European Security Governance ....................................................................................... 56
Approaches to International Statebuilding Interventions ............................................. 59
The Technical Current: Functional liberalism ................................................................. 60
The Radical Current: the view of Western imposition .................................................... 66
Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 73
Chapter 3 – Global Security Assemblages and Fields of Intervention ............................. 75
Assemblages and governance ............................................................................................ 76
Authority and Recognition: field, doxa, and forms of capital ....................................... 85
Practices of Extraversion: Weakness as strength; Local knowledge; and
Transnational Gate-keeping ............................................................................................. 95
Discourses of Vulnerability and Willingness .................................................................. 97
Mastery of Insider Knowledge ...................................................................................... 104
Transnational Gatekeeping ............................................................................................ 107
Assemblages of Security Intervention in West Africa .................................................. 113
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 120
Chapter 4 - By Land: Intervention in the Interior Sahelian Belt .................................... 121
The crowded international security field in the Sahelian belt ..................................... 122
Field dynamics of international capacity-building interventions in the Sahel ........... 133
Conflict, resources and rents: Extraverted practices of security by political and
security elite in the Sahel ................................................................................................. 146
ii
Practices of extraversion amongst Meso-level security actors ..................................... 158
Security tools, technologies: Uses and Abuses ............................................................. 159
International security training: Access to a key material and symbolic resource ......... 171
Extraverted Practices, international capital, and conflicts between security units ... 175
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 183
Chapter 5: By Air – Drug Interdiction at Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport
(LSS), Senegal ....................................................................................................................... 185
AIRCOP Project Design .................................................................................................. 187
The (post)colonial field of security in Senegal ............................................................... 192
The structure of Internal Security Services in Francophone African Countries, and their
responses to global structural transformations .............................................................. 193
Inter-agency competition and AIRCOP implementation ............................................ 199
Competing practices, and justifications of (non)inclusion in AIRCOP: Authority in the
field of law enforcement ................................................................................................ 200
Global opportunities for capacity-building and strategies of selection ...................... 210
Adaptability in selection of diverse patrons in connected fields ................................... 211
Fuelling mutual distrust through AIRCOP governance ................................................ 217
Interdiction efforts and public/private actors at LSS International Airport: Rescaling
the governance of drug trafficking ................................................................................. 224
Negotiation, private interests, and structural constraints at LSS ................................... 226
CAAT drug interdiction success: reinforcing governance rescaling and new interdiction
practices ......................................................................................................................... 234
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 238
Chapter 6 – Governing Borderless Threats by Sea: Senegal and the Container Control
Programme (CCP) ............................................................................................................... 241
The Port Autonome de Dakar (PAD): The heart of Senegal’s liberal economy ........ 245
The UNODC, World Customs Organization (WCO), and the Container Control
Programme (CCP) ........................................................................................................... 247
Security rescaling via discipline in the Dakar PCU ...................................................... 249
Disciplinary surveillance and the design of the CCP .................................................... 250
The limits of international discipline: Needing material and symbolic incentives ....... 259
Rescaling governance and dealing with rivalries in Senegal’s field of security ......... 264
Competing structures of authority: State-society relations and their effects on
security governance through the CCP ........................................................................... 275
Religious, politico-economic authorities, the PAD, and the PCU ................................. 276
PAD administrators, security, and the work of the PCU ............................................... 281
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 287
Chapter 7: Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 289
Research implications of global assemblages of security intervention? ..................... 291
Global assemblages of security intervention and the internationalization of the West
African state? ................................................................................................................... 293
African security agents and the development of a transnational constabulary ethic?
........................................................................................................................................... 299
The consequences of international security assistance: forces of stability or
instability? ........................................................................................................................ 306
Bibliography ......................................................................................................................... 313

iii
Abstract:

International actors from International Organizations, Western States, Think tanks, risk
management consultancies, NGOs, and private security companies understand borderless
threats like clandestine migration, drug trafficking, and international terrorism to emanate
from ‘ungoverned spaces’ in the Global South. The Sahelian sub-region of West Africa
has taken a prominent place in global discourses of insecurity and borderless threats.
These non-traditional security concerns have been translated into an expanding array of
transnational governance initiatives that bring together the activities and practices of a
wide range of state and non-state, global and local, and public and private actors in efforts
to deal with the challenges that borderless threats are assumed to present. This
dissertation argues that attempts to govern drug trafficking in the Sahel are producing
global assemblages of security intervention: shifting, multi-scalar, institutional orders that
reorient and reconfigure the security practices, knowledges, mentalities, technologies, and
priorities of multiple sets of governance actors across disparate jurisdictional spaces. The
effects of the transnationalized security governance and capacity-building initiatives that
unfold in simultaneous, connected spaces of intervention amplify and alter positions of
social power and prominence in local fields of conflict. Through the practices and
projects of global security experts and capacity-builders in the Sahel, new forms of
international capital are introduced and become realized in local settings that intensify
rivalries between local, national, and regional security institutions over the question of
the recognition of their authority over security matters. In their relationships with
international capacity-builders and other global actors, sets of local recipients of security
governance interventions practice forms of extraversion whereby their structural positions
of dependence and differentials of power and resources are leveraged to accumulate
forms of international capital that they then use to dominate the fields of power in which
they are embedded. The dissertation examines three components of the assemblages of
security intervention in West Africa: the effects of the transnational field of capacity-
building in the Sahelian interior; the establishment and operation of the UNODC Airport
Communications drug interdiction project (AIRCOP) at Dakar’s International Airport,
and the joint UNODC/World Customs Organization Container Control Programme
operating at the port of Dakar. It advances new empirical material from these case studies,
and makes contributions to debates in three sub-fields of International Relations: critical
security studies, global governance, and international statebuilding.

iv
Acknowledgements

There are several individuals that must receive due acknowledgement for their support in
making this Ph.D. thesis happen. I’m sure that the list will not be complete. It is late at
night. I’m on the bus, typing out this document, experiencing a caffeine-induced haze that
will most likely affect the outcome of remembering who deserves mention of their
support. If I forget to mention someone in particular, I apologize in advance.

First, social science research is never an individual effort. Multiple people have
contributed to how I have come to understand the complicated, transnational politics of
capacity-building and security governance against borderless threats. While the words,
interpretations, and argument is mine, this does not mean that I figured this out on my
own. Far from it. I take full responsibilities for any errors found herein.

First and foremost is Rita Abrahamsen. Ever since I read her book Disciplining
Democracy in the summer of 2006, I knew that I wanted to be mentored by her, and to
engage with her insights regarding security politics in Africa. I was so lucky, indeed
blessed, to have had the chance to work with her as a Master’s student at the University
of Wales-Aberystwyth, and then serendipitously in 2009 when she started her position at
the University of Ottawa. Thank you so very much, Rita, for your moral support,
engaging critiques, and steady hand to make sure that I completed this difficult but very
rewarding task. I can only hope to be as good a mentor and supervisor for anyone in my
future stewardship as you have with me. Michael Williams was instrumental in helping
me better understand the politics of security, and for sparking my thinking about Critical
Security Studies. He deserves a special mention for his moral support and engaging
pedagogy. Cedric Jourde’s moral support and in-depth knowledge of several Sahelian
countries has been incomparable. I’m so glad that by chance we arrived at the Centre
d’Archives d’Outre Mer in Aix-en-Provence on the same day in the summer of 2011 and
started chatting about the follies of ‘ungoverned space’ thinking. Your knowledge of the
complex dynamics of the Sahel intensified my interests that I can now healthily call an
obsession.

Supervisors are official. Colleagues and friends are not. Conversations with several other
individuals have formed my thinking as well. Mark Salter’s pedagogy was instrumental
in making me realize and become a ‘born again postie.’ His moral support has been a
required dose of oxygen in very challenging times. Jacquie Best and Mat Patterson have
almost cheered me on, shared their insights, commented on ISA papers, and been
exemplary in showing me what true academics and community makers should look like.
Shahar Hameiri and Lee Jones have also been very supportive of this effort, and
conversations with them have shaped my thinking about the question of the politics of
scale in security and assemblages of intervention. Finally, and most importantly, there has
been a tight-knit set of graduate students at the University of Ottawa that have
consistently built each other up, supported one another’s research endeavours, and
reduced the stress of the research by finding and making time for nerdy jokes and
laughter. Phil Mamadou Frowd, Chris Leite, and Can Mutlu have been the most ardent of
v
supporters. Without their constant encouragement, this argument’s shape and detail
would not be what it is today. A number of other individuals have given me feedback on
portions of this work. Thanks also go to Rune Saugmann-Andersen, Thierry Balzacq,
Tubga Basaran, Isaline Bergamaschi, Didier Bigo, Stephen Brown, Deborah Cowen,
Miguel De Larrinaga, Jairus Grove, Xavier Guillaume, Julien Jeandesboz, Florian Kuhn,
Nicolas Lemay-Hébert, Christian Olsen, and Juha Vuori.

Institutional and financial support for this work has come from multiple sources, which I
must acknowledge as well. Diane Deziel, Marie-France Jolette, and Sylvie Lachapelle
have been ever helpful and accommodating to my requests. Thank you. Funding was
provided for five years from the Faculty of Social Sciences, and the Faculty of Graduate
and Postdoctoral Studies at the University of Ottawa, as well as funding for my second
round of field research. Without this support, this thesis would not have been possible.
The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) also provided significant
funds to conduct my first round of field research through the Africa Initiative. During my
time in Ghana, a colleague through the Africa Initiative graciously hosted and took care
of me in my first visit to Africa: George Bob-Milliar, I am extremely grateful for this.
Finally, Mark Shaw and Tuesday Reitano provided me with an employment opportunity
that made it possible to conduct research in Mali and Niger. Special thanks go to them for
providing me with this unique and life-changing opportunity.

I won’t devote too much space here to acknowledge them. But it is important to state
categorically that my interlocutors in the Sahel, Vienna, Washington DC., and New York
have made this possible, and have added a level of detail that would have made this
dissertation a very drab affair. Thank you, thank you, and thank you for spending your
time speaking with me. Inch’Allah, we shall meet again and I can in some way return
your kindness and sincerity.

My time researching has also been about community. My community in Ottawa has been
developed in close, service-related interactions with members of the Champlain Ward of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. While away on field research, members
of the ward shovelled snow from my driveway so my pregnant wife wouldn’t have to.
They dropped off Oreo cookies randomly at our doorstep, provided me rides home late at
night after long hours of composing this work, and bought me several cans of Monster
Energy Drink (LDS folks try not to drink coffee or tea). Several families have looked
after our children while my wife worked, allowing me to read or write in my window-less
office at the FSS building. Others helped calm me down by taking me for a much-needed
Dr. Pepper slurpee, or buying me a Peanut Buster Parfait and allowing me to stress eat, or
by coming over at inconvenient times to serve my family by providing me with a
Priesthood blessing. Your prayers have been needed, welcome, felt, and answered, as
they have constituted answers to my own.

Finally, family members have supported me through thick and thin. David and Meagan,
Jenn and Brent, John and Darcia, Mom and Terry, and Dad and Norma, you all gave of
your time, money, love, and service to the girls and me. I don’t know how I can ever
repay your for this support. All I can do I try to live up to the standard that you all
vi
exemplify. I love you, and am indebted to you beyond measure. Finally, Anyanka,
Beatrix, Philippa, and Chrysalis… You have sacrificed so much in order for me to be an
eternal/perpetual student. Thank you for being understanding of the time that I have
needed to be away, and your willingness to sacrifice so much time apart. Thank you for
being patient when I have been cranky when this argument hasn’t been as cooperative or
coordinated as it was supposed to be (coordination is short hand for competition). Thank
you for keeping the house a place where I can experience peace, joy and love. Chrysalis,
thank you so much for teaching our girls to be strong, compassionate young ladies. You
make life worth living. They say that doing a Ph.D. will children is difficult… Sure. But I
wouldn’t trade the hugs that I get from my four girls the moment I walk through the door
when I arrive home after a long day of thinking, researching and writing for anything.
Without you all, I am very little indeed. Thank you, and I promise that I will be gainfully
employed soon, God willing.

vii
Acronyms
ACOTA African Contingency Operations Training and Assistance
AFIS Automated Fingerprint Identification System
AFISMA Africa International Support Mission for Mali
AFRICOM United States Africa Command
AIS Automated Identification of Ships
ALCAO Appui à la lutte contre le traffic de cocaine en Afrique de l’Ouest
AMISOM African Union Mission to Somalia
ANTRAF Anti-organized Crime and Counter-narcotics Enforcement in Cape Verde
Project
APF African Peace Facility
ATSP Adjustment of Transport Sector Projects
AQIM Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
BNLPC Brigade nationale de Lutte Contre la Piraterie et la Contrefaçon
CAAT Cellule Aéroportuaire Anti-Trafic
CAR Central African Republic
CBP US Customs and Border Protection Agency
CCP Global Container Control Programme
CEN Customs Enforcement Network
CENCOM Customs Enforcement Network Communications Database
CENTIF Cellule Nationale de Traitement des Informations Financiéres
CILD Comité Interministériel de Lutte contre la Drogue
COPRI Copenhagen Peace Research Institute
CSI Container Security Initiative
DCI Direction de la Coopération Internationale
DDR Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration
DGPN Direction Générale de la Police Nationale
DLCF Direction de Lutte Contre la Fraude
DPKO United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations
DRE Direction de Renseignements et des Enquêtes
DST Direction de Surveillance du Territoire
ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States
EEAS European External Action Service
ELN Ejército de Liberación Nacional
ENAM Ecole Nationale d’Administration
EU European Union
EUCAP European Union Capacity-Building Missions
EUTM European Union Training Missions
FARC Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Columbia
FNID Fichier National des Informations Douaniéres
ICAO International Civil Aviation Organization
IFIs international financial institutions
IfS Instrument for Stability
IMET International Military Education and Training Programme
viii
IMF International Monetary Fund
INTERPOL International Police Organization
IO International Organizations
IR International Relations
ISPS International Ship and Port facilities Code
IT information technology
JAITF Joint Airport Interdiction Task Forces
JMCU joint-maritime control units
LSS Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport
MINUSMA Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali
MUJAO Mouvement pour l'unicité et le jihad en Afrique de l'Ouest
NGO Non-Governmental Organization
NTS non-traditional security
OCS Office Central des Stupéfiants
OCRTIS Office Central de Répression des Trafics Illicites et des Stupéfiants
ONUB UN Mission for Burundi
PAD Port Autonome de Dakar
PAF Police de l’Air et des Frontières
PCU Port Control Units
PIGN Peloton d’Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale
PNDS Parti Nigerien pour la Democratie et le Socialisme-Tayayya
PDS Parti Démocratique Sénégalais
RAP ECOWAS Regional Action Plan
RECAMP Renforcement des Capacités Africaines de Maintien de la Paix
RG Rensiegnements Généraux
SCLCT Service Central de la Lutte Contre Terroriste
SCTIP Service de Coopération Technique Internationale de Police
SOLAS Safety of Life at Sea
ST Surveillance du Territoire
TFG Transitional Federal Government
TSTCP Trans-Saharan Counter-Terrorism Partnership
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UNOCI UN mission in Cote d’Ivoire
UNODC United Nations Office of Drugs and
UNPOL United Nations Police Division
UNOWA United Nations Office for West Africa
UPDF Ugandan People’s Defense Forces
USIP United States Institute for Peace
WACI West African Coast Initiative
WCO World Customs Organization
ix
Chapter 1: Introduction
“Narco-terrorism is on the rise”…[in the Sahel]… Several hundred of heavily armed
individuals are connected to the traffic of hostages and drugs… If we leave them alone, it
is the entirety of Africa, West and East, and Europe that are threatened… If we want to
avoid, within the next few months, our countries being struck by narco-terrorism, we
must act.”
– Laurent Fabius, French Minister of Foreign Affairs, 11 September 2012

The 2 April 2013 was a bad day for former Navy Chief of Guinea-Bissau, José Américo
Bubo Na Tchuto. He was in the process of orchestrating a major cocaine trafficking
operation with purported Colombian rebels belonging to the Fuerzas Armadas
Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC). The deal was relatively simple: Na Tchuto and
other high-ranking military officials in Guinea-Bissau (including the Chief of the Armed
Forces, Antonio Indjai) would facilitate the importation of thousands of kilograms of
cocaine, in exchange for surface-to-air missiles paid to the armed group. To his surprise,
the ‘rebels’ were actually United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents,
and Na Tchuto was the target of a complex international law enforcement operation. Na
Tchuto was arrested, along with two others, in international waters off Guinea-Bissau’s
archipelago. He was subsequently transported to neighbouring Cape Verde, and finally
extradited to the United States to appear before a judge in Manhattan’s Southern District
court of New York (Nossiter 2013).
Many political and military officials have recently been accused of, or criminally
charged with, drug trafficking or profiting from the trade in West Africa. In May 2008,
then Prime Minister of Guinea informed the American Ambassador that the leading drug
1