Indian companies shipped more than 320 million tapentadol pills to West Africa over the past three years, even though the synthetic opioid has not been approved by regulators in most countries in the region, according to a Bellingcat investigation. 

Export records reviewed by the outlet showed more than 1,400 consignments worth nearly $130 million were sent from India to West Africa between January 2023 and December 2025. Tapentadol, a painkiller described in the report as two to three times more potent than tramadol, was sent mainly to the coastal states of Sierra Leone and Ghana, which together accounted for more than 80 percent of the total value of shipments identified by the research organization.

Sierra Leone was listed as the destination for 46 percent of shipments by value and Ghana for 36 percent, while more than half of the pills whose dosage was listed were in strengths of 200 milligrams or more, doses that are not even approved in India, the report said. 

The value of tapentadol exports from India to West Africa rose sharply to almost $130 million in 2023-2025 from about $27 million in 2020-2022. The increase came after India tightened export controls on tramadol in 2018 and the International Narcotics Control Board warned in 2021 that traffickers could shift to other potent synthetic opioids, Bellingcat said. 

The shipments have arrived as West Africa faces a worsening opioid abuse crisis. Sierra Leone’s president declared a national emergency over rampant drug abuse in 2024, while Ghana’s Narcotics Control Commission said illegal tapentadol imports were first recorded in 2022 and have risen steadily over the past three years, with authorities seizing more than 3.7 million tablets, most traced back to India, the report said. 

Ghanaian authorities said the drug was being trafficked through seaports and by air, often hidden in cargo falsely declared as pharmaceuticals, electrical materials, or household goods, according to Bellingcat. Ghana has emerged as both a destination and a transit hub for the drug, with most intercepted consignments bound for Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria.

Ghana’s Food and Drugs Authority told Bellingcat it had never issued any permit for the manufacture or import of tapentadol in any strength, and import data showed no tapentadol entered the country between 2023 and 2025, supporting the view that the shipments were concealed and falsely declared, the report said. 

The findings raise questions about Indian export controls. Exporters shipping pharmaceutical products in strengths not approved in India are required to obtain a no-objection certificate and provide proof that the drug is approved in the importing country, yet public information shows tapentadol is not approved in any of the West African countries identified in the investigation, Bellingcat said. 

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