For two years, Hisham Salih Yagoub has fielded calls from frantic drivers across war-torn Sudan asking him to pay thousands of dollars to the genocidal paramilitary group that has torn the country apart — extortion to get his truckloads of gum arabic to the port.
After it’s sorted in warehouses in Port Sudan, Yagoub’s gum arabic is sent to clients in Europe and the U.S.. Gum arabic, a sticky tree sap, is an essential ingredient in everything from Coca-Cola to Danone yogurt to M&Ms. Sudan produces 70% of the world’s supply — and Yagoub’s company, Afritec, is one of the biggest suppliers.
"You have to pay a lot of money to the janjaweed,” Yagoub said of the Rapid Support Forces militia, which the U.S. in January accused of committing genocide in a civil war that’s displaced 12 million people and killed at least 150,000. He says he routinely pays them around $2,500 per truck.
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