UN: "organized crime is plundering West Africa"

A new United Nations report released Tuesday has spurred international law enforcement into action in West Africa. As many as four UN bodies, ECOWAS, and Interpol are involved in what is to become a concerted effort aimed at stopping organized crime.

Among other conclusions, the 90-page UN report finds that up to half of all medication used in the region may be either "substandard or counterfeit," and that "80 percent of the cigarette market ... is illicit, meaning that cigarette sales in those countries chiefly profit criminals."

In particular, reports the BBC, the new campaign targets Guinea-Bissau, the Ivory Coast, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Observers can expect strengthened border security as well as attempts to improve local judicial systems.