Prigozhin's son builds drug empire in Central Africa

Prigozhin's son builds an empire in Africa: 500 million a year from illegal gold

Just when the Wagner Group seemed like a corporate corpse after the death of its founder in 2023, his eldest son has revived the business in the shadows. Pavel Prigozhin, at the head of some 500 mercenaries who refused to join the African Corps of the Russian Defence Ministry, now controls the Ndassima gold mines in the Central African Republic, with estimated revenues of 500 million dollars a year. But it doesn't stop there: the group has set up its own drug organización criminal, specialising in drug smuggling.

The gold of Ndassima and Wagner's split

The death of Yevgeny Prigozhin in 2023 left a void that Moscow tried to fill by absorbing Wagner's foreign assets under the umbrella of the Defence Ministry. However, around half a thousand veterans chose the independent route, keeping control of the lucrative Ndassima mines in the heart of Central Africa. With revenues of around 500 million dollars, these illegal gold mining operations are the main source of funding for the new empire.

A drug organización criminal with a military past

The diversification did not take long to arrive. According to available information, the group has created its own drug trafficking network, using the routes and logistics inherited from Wagner to move narcotics. The combination of military experience and territorial control makes this organisation a unique player in African organised crime, competing directly with other cartels and armed groups.

How far will this incivil empire go without official Russian cover? Meanwhile, the governments of the region watch with unease as Prigozhin's shadow spreads once again.