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Akbar Novruz

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Former members of the Wagner Group have established a lucrative drug trafficking network in the upper Ubangi River basin of the Central African Republic (CAR), according to a report by The Wall Street Journal citing sources familiar with the matter, AzerNEWS reports.

The newspaper reported that the group is operating independently of the Kremlin and that local law enforcement authorities have been unable to curb its activities. According to the report, the former Wagner contingent is currently led by Pavel Prigozhin, the son of the late Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin.

According to the report, the group's primary source of income has become the illegal trade in tramadol, an opioid painkiller sometimes referred to as the "cocaine of the poor." The Wall Street Journal said the group distributes tramadol tablets with doses increased to 200 milligrams, compared with standard medical doses of 50–100 milligrams.

The report alleges that tramadol manufactured in India is smuggled through the Democratic Republic of the Congo into the Central African Republic before being distributed to neighboring countries.

The newspaper said the operation is overseen by approximately 500 former Wagner fighters who remained in the Central African Republic following Yevgeny Prigozhin's death in a plane crash in 2023.

The Africa Center for Strategic Studies has previously claimed that Wagner has established de facto control over parts of the Central African Republic, alleging that the group has infiltrated the country's military and local armed factions. According to the organization, Wagner's influence has grown to the point that it has allegedly supplied tramadol even to members of the presidential guard.

The claims reported by The Wall Street Journal have not been independently verified.