[Peace-discuss] seeing to the end of the fork

[E. Wayne Johnson]

The afghan opium trade
>From Project: The Scag Times <http://www.piratemyfilm.com/projects/175>
By: thescagtimes <http://www.piratemyfilm.com/profiles/943-thescagtimes>

Some villagers, like 18-year-old Abdullah Jan, have to walk for hours 
before reaching Shaddle. The tiredness on his face explains it all -- if 
he is stopped by government agents or bandits he would lose money that 
feeds his family for the entire year.

"I left at four in the morning and got here after four hours. I have 
brought 10kg of opium from my fields to sell."

After a hard bargain with Gul Mohammad Khan, the opium dealer, he is 
getting the equivalent of $1,400 -- more than he can get for any other crop.

He is one of hundreds of people who travel to Shaddle bazaar to sell and 
buy opium.

The US has recently given the Afghan government more than $10bn in 
assistance, but most of the money will be spent on security rather than 
encouraging alternative sources of income.

Afghanistan produces 92 percent of the world's opium, a thick paste from 
poppy used to make heroin, according to the latest U.N. Office on Drugs 
and Crime report.

That is the equivalent of 3,500 tonnes leaving the country each year.

Helmand produces most of the poppy.

About two thirds of the opium is turned into heroin before it leaves 
Afghanistan and goes on to feed some 15 million addicts, mainly in 
Russia, Iran and Europe.

UN findings say an opium market worth $65bn (£39bn) funds global 
terrorism, caters to 15 million addicts, and kills 100,000 people every 
year.

Since 2005, the Taliban have made up to $160 million (0.2% market) a 
year from taxing cultivation and trade of the crop, according to foreign 
diplomats.

The UN says corruption, lawlessness and uncontrolled borders result in 
only 2% of Afghan opiates being seized locally.

The UN says more Russians die annually from Afghan drugs than Soviet 
soldiers were killed during its Afghan conflict.

The UN estimates that Afghan land dedicated to opium poppy cultivation 
--- some 45,000 to 65,000 hectares --- is up to eight and a half times 
larger than the amount for 2001.

Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UNODC, said Afghanistan's opium 
production could create a "perfect storm" in the region.

"The Afghanistan/Pakistan border region has turned into the world's 
largest free-trade zone in anything and everything that is illicit -- 
drugs of course, but also weapons, bomb-making equipment, chemical 
precursors, drug money, even people and migrants," he said.

Iran intercepts about 20% of the opium entering its territory and 
Pakistan 17% -- but Russia and some European countries are seizing less 
than 5%.

One gram of heroin worth $3 in Kabul is worth up to $100 on the streets 
of London, Milan or Moscow, it is estimated.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/attachments/20100810/904f1530/attachment-0001.html>