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Price is in US Dollars, and represents the typical price of Marijuana in Africa.

Source: UNODC, “World Drug Report 2009: Section 3.4 Prices, pages 215 to 234,” June 2009.

Price is in US Dollars and represents the typical price of Cocaine in Africa.

Source:  UNODC, “World Drug Report 2009: Section 3.4 Prices, pages 215 to 234,” June 2009.

Price is in US Dollar and represents the typical price of Ecstasy in Africa.

Source: UNODC, “World Drug Report 2009: Section 3.4 Prices, pages 215 to 234,” June 2009.

Prices are in US Dollars and represent the typical price of heroin in Africa.

Source: UNODC, “World Drug Report 2009: Section 3.4 Prices, pages 215 to 234,” June 2009.

Poor people in Egypt are selling their kidneys to organ traffickers for as little as $2,000, according to a report by the Associated Press.  On the buyer side, the article reports that rich Saudis are paying up to $16,000 for a black market transplant.

Source:  Associated Press, “Black market organ trade still thrives in Egypt,” MSNBC, March 17, 2009.

Despite the best efforts of Israel and the United States, smuggling tunnels under Gaza continue to be used.

From the AP (via Google News):

Angry at Hamas’ ability to fire rockets at Israel, the United States last year allocated $23 million to help train Egyptian officials to stop the smuggling into Gaza through tunnels at a border plagued by crisis and corruption.

Months later, there is little noticeable effect: Smuggling has continued at a robust pace, allowing Hamas militants in Gaza to gain rockets to shoot at Israeli citizens. Israel’s military says about 300 tunnels ran under the Gaza-Egypt border before its military offensive began Dec. 27. Since then, Israel has bombed dozens of them.

The story of the U.S.-funded program and its lack of impact on the problem is a cautionary tale of how hard it has been to control Gaza’s border with Egypt — at a time when patrolling that frontier and stopping the weapons flow are once again hot issues as mediators seek a cease-fire in Gaza.

More on the tunnels from the LA Times:

Some of them are said to be big enough to accommodate railroad cars. They may reach a depth of 60 feet, and are reported to be equipped with cables and electric motors that move food, fuel — and probably some of the heaviest rockets that Hamas aims at Israel.

They also are one of the main reasons fighting is continuing in the Gaza Strip.

A man was detained in Egypt after airport security officials found mummies in his luggage.

According to a report from the BBC, the man was attempting to smuggle numerous antiquities out of the country.

From the BBC:

An airport official said the mummies of a cat and an ibis, a long-beaked bird, dated back to 300 BC.

He said another 19 figurines of ancient Egyptian gods were also found in the passenger’s bags.

The man has been charged with smuggling antiquities, which can carry a penalty of up to 15 years in prison.

The kidnappers of 11 Europeans and 8 Egyptians in Cairo has publicly demanded $6 million in ransom.

From the IHT:

The kidnappers of 11 European tourists and 8 Egyptians who were taken in a remote desert area of southwestern Egypt on Friday night have demanded $6 million to free them, an Egyptian government official said early Tuesday. Negotiations were under way, said the official, Magdy Radi, a cabinet spokesman.

The tourism group was ambushed by armed masked men while driving off-road vehicles in a rugged, remote area called Kark Talh, government officials said. Five Italians, five Germans and a Romanian were in the group, along with an Egyptian police officer, four Egyptian drivers, two Egyptian tour guides and the managing director of the tour company, the government said. Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism said that the kidnappers drove toward the border with Sudan.

Tunnels beneath the area between Egypt and Gaza is big business for those who control the pathways. 

The Christian Science Monitor reports on the contraband products that travel underground.

The buffer zone between Egypt and Gaza is a no man’s land. But beneath the eight-mile Philadelphi Route, this border town stays busy.

Officials on both sides say a vast network of tunnels is used by smugglers to ferry everything from cigarettes and fuel to machine guns and grenades into the Gaza Strip.

Since Israel’s 2005 withdrawal from Gaza, Egyptian forces have been responsible for cracking down on this smuggling, with the discrete assistance of US Army specialists. But Israeli officials have increasingly voiced discontent with Egypt’s policing. They strongly dispute its claims of success, saying that Cairo’s efforts have improved over time but that there is still much that needs to be done.

Egyptian authorities have found 452 tunnels since 2005, along with a wide range of contraband products. 

 Since 2005, border guards have found hundreds of guns, including 220 AK-47s; 18,465 kilograms of TNT; thousands of bullets; stashes of heroin, marijuana, and hashish; 16,821 packs of cigarettes; and Egyptian, Israeli, Jordanian, American and Saudi currency worth $149,455.

The owners and operators of the tunnels can rent them out for up to $10,000 an hour depending on the type of product being smuggled.