The Seychelles: An island paradise?

The Seychelles - many of us would struggle to locate it on a map, yet we all know that this island nation is a place of paradise. A destination that offers 5-star luxury for those who can afford to visit. Known for its coral reefs, mangroves and white sandy beaches, 360,000 tourists travel to the Indian Ocean archipelago each year for a holiday of a lifetime.

But 10% of the local population is dependent on heroin, with a drug epidemic whipping across the country, to the extent that the country is relying on immigrant workers to do the work that drug-dependent locals cannot.

Even the president admits... "At this point in time, per capita, as far as consumption of heroin is concerned, Seychelles is number one in the world. And this is not a statistic that gives me personally great pleasure."

So, what has happened?

It's hard to believe that there would be such a huge drugs issue in somewhere as remote and beautiful as the Seychelles. But it's all down to trade routes - the island nation lies right in the middle of well-established drug trafficking routes from Afghanistan to East Africa and Europe. And the situation hasn't been helped by the incarceration of a group of Iranian drug traffickers, who are helpfully ensuring that even in prison, everyone who wants heroin, can get heroin, whilst they expand their drug network further.

Because the Seychelles is an island nation, it has huge potential for drug smuggling through its vast borders. Made up of 115 islands, it has more than a million square kilometres of territorial seas, which makes it hard to monitor and easy for drugs to come into the country.

Most heroin arrives by boat and is smuggled in without too much effort. Once it has been smuggled in there is huge demand, with people setting up their homes as shops. A booming part of the informal economy which involves whole communities.

Yet, the wealthy tourists staying in the luxury resorts won't know, and won't want to know, about the dark side of this portion of paradise.

The Seychelles is a good example of a tourist destination with hidden secrets, but also shows how vulnerable developing nations are with trade and trafficking.