Russian mercenaries in Africa: In addition to Ukraine, the Wagner Group was also active in Syria, Libya, Mali and the Central African Republic.Image: keystone
28-year-old Pavel Prigozhin has gathered former Wagner fighters and brought the drug trade in the Central African Republic under his control – and snubbed the Kremlin.
July 19, 2026, 5:37 p.mJuly 19, 2026, 5:37 p.m
Ivan Ruslyannikov / ch media
After the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin in August 2023, the once influential Russian Wagner group began to disintegrate. Some of the fighters signed contracts with the Ministry of Defense and joined the “African Corps” of the Russian army.
Another part, for which Yevgeny Prigozhin’s authority and ideology came first, saw no point in taking part in hostilities after the death of its leader.
A third, numerically small group of experienced fighters joined 28-year-old Pavel Prigozhin. According to the Wall Street Journal, he is said to have built a drug empire in the Central African Republic after his father’s death and exercised control over gold mines there.
Builds a drug empire in the Central African Republic: Pavel Prigozhin.Image: zvg
A few years ago, the Kremlin gave Pavel Prigozhin the green light to continue his father’s business in Africa – provided that it did not run counter to Russia’s interests. The drug empire that former Wagner Group fighters are said to have built in the Central African Republic is based on the trade in tramadol, often referred to as the “poor man’s cocaine”.
The former trainer of the mercenary troop and author of the book “Russia’s Wagner Group: From Ukraine to Military Coups”, Igor Salikov, explains the effects of the drug in an interview with “Switzerland Today”. Taken in high doses, it turns fighters into real “cyborgs,” he says.
«It increases endurance and suppresses feelings of fear. Under the influence of tramadol, some fighters were able to continue fighting despite being seriously wounded. I already know this from my experiences in Syria in 2015,” says Salikow.
Gold smuggling as a million-dollar business
Control of the tramadol trade allows Pavel Prigozhin to exploit the Central African Republic’s forest and gold resources. After Estimates According to the Geneva analysis center Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, the Wagner Group’s illegal gold exports generate around 180 million US dollars annually.
Smuggling the painkiller into neighboring countries also represents an additional source of income. As the Wall Street Journal reports, tramadol is consumed by miners in the gold mines controlled by the Wagner Group. Participants in pro-Russian demonstrations and fighters who are involved in the armed conflict in the country that has been going on for years also take the drug.
Most of the tramadol supplied to Central Africa is manufactured in India. From there, pharmaceutical companies export the drug to the Republic of Congo. Dealers then smuggle the tramadol across the Ubangi River into the Central African Republic.
No longer under Kremlin control
Pavel Prigozhin uses the business model in Africa that his father had built up over the years. The last video published by Yevgeny Prigozhin during his lifetime was made in Africa in the summer of 2023. In it, the Wagner boss announced that he would “make Russia even bigger on all continents and make Africa freer.”
Established the Russian business of the Wagner Group: Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin.Image: keystone
However, as the Wall Street Journal reports, today’s tramadol trade in the Central African Republic is beyond the control of the Kremlin. The former fighters of the Wagner Group are now directly subordinate to the country’s government. The influence of Russian mercenaries there is now so great that they supply tramadol to members of the presidential guard and the Sharks youth militia. This regularly organizes armed patrols in Bangui and physically attacks opposition supporters.
Apparently, such support from Pavel Prigozhin’s group comes in handy for the authorities of the Central African Republic. In 2025, representatives of the Central African Republic said that Russia had asked the country to replace the private mercenary group Wagner with the state organization “African Corps”. However, the government of the Republic considered the Wagner Group to be more efficient and preferred to pay for its services with natural resources rather than cash.
According to Igor Salikov, this is exactly what makes Pavel Prigozhin an opponent of Vladimir Putin’s power apparatus.
Added to this is personal history. Pawel’s father had his mercenaries march towards Moscow in June 2023, but broke off the uprising after an agreement brokered by Belarus. Two months later he died when his private jet crashed north of Moscow. Observers have little doubt that the Kremlin was behind his death.
“Putin declared his father Yevgeny a traitor, he was killed, and Pavel will probably never know what actually happened,” says Russia expert Salikov. “I don’t think he will forgive Putin for that. That’s exactly why he gathered a group of like-minded people around him – men who remained loyal to his father and did not sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense.
To become a real opponent of Putin, however, you need not only personal insults, but also money, weapons, supporters and fighters. In the Central African Republic, Pavel Prigozhin seems to be gaining recognition – and outdoing what he sees as a cheap copy of the “African Corps” created by the Ministry of Defense.
Prigozhin’s further intentions are still unclear. What is clear is that he openly defies the rules that the Kremlin put in place after the Wagner era. According to them, all private military structures should be subordinated to the Ministry of Defense. (schweiztoday.ch)