Afghanistan's Other Battle: The Fight Against Opium Trafficking

[seemslikeadream]

By Serena Parker
Washington

...

Tamara Makarenko, a researcher at the Institute, says the United States and its European allies are concentrating on tracking down al-Qaida terrorists and Taleban militants, which means they have fewer resources to devote to fighting the narcotics trade. This has had an unintended side effect: warlords who previously controlled most aspects of Afghanistan's opium trade have given way to numerous individuals involved in small-scale cultivation and smuggling.

But that does not mean, according to Ms. Makarenko, that the warlords are no longer involved in opium production. "There are also some suggestions that remnant militants are protecting production facilities and essentially taking over the role of the Taleban by beginning to tax the routes," she said.

U.N. surveys estimate that Afghanistan produces nearly three-quarters of the world's opium. Afghan farmers are said to grow it out of desperation. They are struggling to survive a six-year drought that has shriveled most crops and sent grain prices soaring. With malnutrition rates hovering near 40 percent, many Afghans see growing opium poppies as the only way to put food on the table. The country's booming drug trade is estimated to account for 60 percent of its gross domestic product.

Mr. Cornell said "nowadays the question 'Why don't you grow opium?' is more relevant than the one 'Why do you grow opium?'" According to Mr. Cornell, one way the United States and Europe can help stem the drug trade is through economic development and regional infrastructure development. He cites a current U.S. Agency for International Development project to build a series of inter-connected roads in Afghanistan as one way to help the region's economy. "The drug trade is doing pretty fine without roads," he said. "On the other hand the legal economy is not doing fine without roads and unless you have a legal economy, which requires roads, you won't be able to fight the drug trade."

Svante Cornell says without a serious effort to stem the opium trade, Afghanistan risks becoming a narco-state where corruption and criminality are rampant.

more
http://www.voanews.com/english/2004-12-16-voa67.cfm

[Supersedeas]

1. what??? no, columbian mercenaries in Afghanistan....hmmmm

narco-states of corruption in cahoots, perhaps?

[VegasWolf]

2. Heard the supply is so overwhelming that heroin on the street in

London is cheaper than a beer.

[Minstrel Boy]

4. And what does a monopoly cartel do when supply outstrips demand?

Cut supply.

Oil pipelines, drug pipelines. It's just business.

[Megahurtz]

3. What does the U.S. expect them to do

to survive. What else do you do in a barren desert? Eat sand? They didn't ask to be born there.
All I'm saying is I can understand the desperation when it's do or die. It's not like the U.S. is going to go and save them and take care of them. Hell, they can't even take care of their own!

[seemslikeadream]

5. Afghan police seize tonnes of opium

Date: 17/12/04
By Paul Alexander

A special anti-narcotics task force raided drug laboratories in eastern Afghanistan, seizing more than 15 tonnes of opium.

That amount of opium, one of the largest hauls in recent years, could have been refined into about 1.5 tonnes of heroin.

UN surveys estimate Afghanistan accounted for three-quarters of the world's opium last year.

The raids took place Wednesday in Nangarhar province's Achin district, an Interior Ministry statement said, adding that Afghan Special Narcotics Force agents also destroyed 24 opium presses that are used to refine the drug.

more
http://seven.com.au/news/worldnews/145770

[seemslikeadream]

6. Drug profits from Afghanistan being used to fund terrorism: Russia

MOSCOW: Profits from opium production and trafficking in Afghanistan are increasingly being used to fund terrorism and trans-national organised crime groups, a senior Russian official warned on Tuesday.

Anatoly Safonov, a top anti-terrorism envoy to President Vladimir Putin, called for additional measures to be taken to cut down on drug trafficking from Afghanistan – much of which is channelled through Central Asia and Russia on its way to Europe.

“More and more money from the sale of Afghan drugs will be used to fund terrorist activity, trans-national organised crime, funding corruption and shadow economy,” Safonov was quoted as saying by the ITAR-Tass agency.

...

Safonov warned that opium cultivation in Afghanistan is increasing at an alarming pace – with 420 tonnes of heroin produced this year as opposed to last year’s 360 tonnes. Profits from the sale of heroin total $2.8 billion – more than half of Afghanistan’s gross domestic product, he said.

Russia is one of the main recipients of Afghan heroin, with nearly all of the drug being traded in Russia coming from Afghanistan, said Alexander Fyodorov, deputy head of the Federal Drug Control Agency.
more
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_15-12-2004_pg7_49

[Minstrel Boy]

7. Heroin was a weapon of war against the Soviet troops in Afghanistan.

And the CIA and ISI were chief instigators.

"Trans-national organised crime groups" sounds like something Sibel Edmonds might say.

[pacifictiger]

8. One of the things that is never mentioned

by anyone is the historical cultural ties in Afghanistan to opium.
Had an interesting conversation recently with a man whose grandfather left afghanistan when it was occupied by the British.
Turns out, it was common practice to smoke poppy opium but only as a sort of after dinner nightcap, much like we might have an afterdinner liquer. His grandfather smoked a small amount of opium once every day and yet remained a fully functioning, intelligent man.
As long as there is a cultural historical connection, and there are massive international markets clamoring for their product, is it any wonder that the poor afghani farmers resort to still growing poppies? It's the opium salesmen (some within our government ranks!) that are the problem, not the poor farmers.