(CNN) -- Pirates off the Horn of Africa hauled in hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years -- and funneled those funds into drugs, prostitution, real estate and other ventures.
Somali pirates and their peers hijacking vessels in the region made about $400 million in ransom over the past eight years, according to a report published Friday.
The report, Pirate Trails, was conducted by the United Nations crime unit, Interpol and the World Bank. It tracks the underbelly of the pirate world in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Seychelles and Somalia.
Most of the funds came from exchanging captives for ransom, an increasingly sophisticated process mostly controlled from Somalia.
In the boat patrolling for pirates
In total, 179 ships were hijacked off the coast of Somalia and Horn of Africa between April 2005 and the end of 2012. About 85% were released for ransom.