Record rise in Afghan opium production

[Neo]

---

---

Record rise in Afghan opium production

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 20: A UN report says that despite the presence of some 35,000 Nato troops in Afghanistan, the drug trade there is booming more than ever. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said on Monday that Afghan opium production in 2006 rose a staggering 57 per cent over the previous year.

The UN report to be released in early September claims that there an additional 15 per cent jump in opium production this year while highlighting the sobering fact that Afghanistan now accounts for 95 per cent of the world’s poppy crop.

But the success of the illegal narcotics industry is not confined to Afghanistan. Business is booming in South America, the Middle East, and Africa and across the United States.

Record rise in Afghan opium production -DAWN - Top Stories; August 21, 2007

[Ababeel]

It shows the real character of America and its allies in Afghanistan. During Taliban period the production was going on deacreasing year on year and near negligible production. While the so called Super Power is literally helpless to do the same.

[Neo]

UN reports record production of opium in Afghanistan

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 27: Opium production in Afghanistan has hit a record $3 billion this year, accounting for more than 90 per cent of the world’s illegal output, a United Nations report said on Monday.

The production concentrated mainly in the strife-torn south of the country, where the Taliban, who once banned poppy cultivation, now profited from the drug trade, the report alleged.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) showed that the area under opium cultivation rose to 193,000 hectares from 165,000 in 2006, while the harvest soared by more than a third to 8,200 tons from 6,100 tons.

The amount of Afghan land used for growing opium was larger than the total under coca cultivation in Latin America, it said.

No other country has produced narcotics on such a scale since China in the 19th century, the report said.

But the number of opium-free provinces in the centre and north of the country more than doubled from six to 13, revealing an intensification of markedly divergent trends between the north and south.

UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa called for a more determined effort by the Afghan government and the international community to combat the threats of drugs and insurgency by building upon promising developments in the north and reacting to the dismal failures in the south.

In the centre and north, where the government has increased its authority and presence, cultivation is dropping. In Balkh province cultivation collapsed from 7,200 hectares last year to zero.

By contrast, 80 per cent of opium poppies were grown in a handful of southern provinces along the border with Pakistan.

In Helmand, cultivation rose by 48 per cent to 102,770 hectares. With a population of 2.5 million, Helmand has become the world’s biggest source of illicit drugs, surpassing the output of entire countries like Colombia (coca), Morocco (cannabis) and Myanmar (opium).

Poverty could not be used as an excuse for growing poppy, Mr Costa said. Some of the most fertile regions in the south had become the opium-producing heartland while poorer provinces in the centre and north, where per capita income was half that of the south, were opium-free.

“Opium cultivation is inversely related to the degree of government control. Where anti-government forces reign, poppies flourish,” he said, noting that the Taliban had reversed their edict of 2000 banning cultivation. “What used to be considered a sin is now being encouraged.” But UNODC village surveys indicated that the main reason farmers chose not to grow poppies was that they consider it against Islam. “Only 14 per cent of the population is involved in opium cultivation. The vast majority of Afghans want to turn their country away from drugs and crime. They deserve our support,” Mr Costa said. He called for higher rewards for non-opium farmers.

“Assistance is plentiful but not being disbursed fast enough. I see a risk of some provinces sliding back to poppy cultivation,” he noted.

He underlined the need for greater deterrents to dissuade farmers from planting opium, and an end to collusion that enabled rich landlords to evade eradication. A no-opium pledge should be embedded in all development aid programmes. He also urged the Afghan government to get tough on corruption.

UN reports record production of opium in Afghanistan -DAWN - Top Stories; August 28, 2007

[Neo]

Afghanistan’s economy tripled in five years

KABUL, Aug 27: Afghanistan’s economy has tripled in the past five years to reach almost $10 billion, the US commerce secretary said on Monday. The economy had grown on average by 15 per cent a year, making it one of the fastest-growing in the world, Carlos Gutierrez told journalists at the end of a two-day visit to the troubled country.

“There is a lot of work to do to enable Afghanistan to reach its economic potential,” he said.

“But I have been very impressed by the progress that has been made in this country over the last several years.”

In one example, only eight per cent of the population had access to health care in 2001, but the figure stood at 80 per cent today, he said.

Gutierrez held talks with President Hamid Karzai and businessmen during his visit, which was focused on trying to increase investment in Afghanistan.

Despite the growth figures, Afghanistan’s economy remains in ruins due to political instability and the government’s struggle to fight the Taliban.—AFP

Afghanistan’s economy tripled in five years -DAWN - Business; August 28, 2007

[Neo]

“But I have been very impressed by the progress that has been made in this country over the last several years.”

UN reports record production of opium in Afghanistan

lol

[haviZsultan]

Its just become their living. Growing opium and then smuggling it to Pakistan or Iran is one of their most important industries now. Its got to do with the lawless situation there.

Actually the taliban did keep the warlords and lawlessness at a check. The situation in Afghanistan has worsened after American intervention.

[A.Rahman]

Actually the taliban did keep the warlords and lawlessness at a check. The situation in Afghanistan has worsened after American intervention.

Which is the bigger threat to Pakistan?
beheading kidnapped soldiers or opium that no one forces you to take?

[Neo]

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Afghan opium increasing problems for Pakistan: ANF

RAWALPINDI: The alarming opium production in Afghanistan has increased problems for Pakistan as international drug barons smuggle heroin to Europe and America through Pakistan, said Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) Commander Brig Asif Ali while briefing reporters about ANF’s performance during the ongoing quarter on Wednesday.

He said figures of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) showed a 34 percent increase in opium production in Afghanistan this year. He said with its 193,000 hectares under opium cultivation, Afghanistan now accounted for 93 percent of illegal opium production in the world.

He said due to this reason crime ratio in Pakistan was also showing an upward trend. “If people inform and cooperate with us then we can control the menace of drugs,” he said. He said the ANF had seized 165 kilogrammes of heroin, 1,500 kg hashish, 37 kg opium and 1.2 kg cocaine during the quarter under review. He said the use of cocaine, which was not produced in Pakistan, was increasing rapidly. He said cocaine was being smuggled into Pakistan from different countries.

He said 172 Pakistanis and 31 foreigners were arrested in Rawalpindi, while 129 cases had been registered in this period. He said that among the foreigners arrested, 50 percent were Nigerians, while most Pakistanis held were working for Nigerians. He noted that demand for narcotics in African countries was on the rise.

He said the ANF conducted 20 operations in Punjab and arrested 35 people, including seven women. He said in one such incident Raja Nadeem Kiyani, Ashfaq Malhotra and Malik Ishaque were trying to smuggle a huge quantity of heroin concealed in mango packs from the Islamabad Airport to Johannesburg, South Africa. He said the ANF arrested Raja Nadeem Kiyani, while the other two accused were still at large. He said that Raja Kiyani belonged to a political family of Gujjar Khan. He said the ANF needed well-trained officers, check-posts and equipment to make it a vibrant force. He said 5,000 policemen would be inducted into the force. He said that in seven raids across Attock, they had arrested women along with children. He said more and more women were getting involved in drug trade.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

[haviZsultan]

Which is the bigger threat to Pakistan?
beheading kidnapped soldiers or opium that no one forces you to take?

I was talking in the context of afghanistan. Nothing can be done about the opium because it has already become the iving of many poor farmers in Afghanistan. Only yesterday i was watching a documentary about it.

True. Taliban is a bigger threat to us. Don't worry I never said we should carry taliban people on our shoulders around Pakistan screaming down with US (or Canada in that matter.). We have to weed these bastards and the extremism and barbaric, anti-islamic culture they present out so that our nation can be prosperous and move forward. I saw the beheading by taliban linked militant group with those barbarian teenagers and I take it as an absolute insult to our nation. I think we should move against them.

No need to get so frustrated, we won't trade you for the soldiers that have been kidnapped in the northern areas

[HAIDER]

---

---