Pubdate: Wed, 09 Jan 2002
Source: Financial Times (UK)
Website: http://www.ft.com/
Address: 1 Southwark Bridge, London, SE1 9HL, UK
Contact:  The Financial Times Limited 2002
Fax: +44 171 873 3922
Author: Richard Wolffe
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

SETBACK IN FIGHT AGAINST AFGHAN HEROIN TRADE

US and Afghan officials appear to be losing a race against time to destroy 
this year's expected bumper crop of opium poppies in Afghanistan.

Faced with continued Taliban resistance in southern Afghanistan, US 
officials concede it is becoming increasingly hard to prevent the return of 
substantial opium production before the poppy harvest begins in late March. 
They are also urging European countries to take more responsibility in 
tackling the drugs trade in Afghanistan. A Taliban ban on poppy crops led 
to a dramatic decline in opium production last year but that fall has come 
to an abrupt end with the collapse of the fundamentalist regime. While the 
new Afghan government in Kabul is committed to ending the drugs trade, the 
international donors supporting the country's reconstruction have yet to 
settle on specific policies to tackle this year's crop.

"I don't want to say we can't do something this year at this point in time 
but it's also true that given the current environment there, it will be a 
tougher task, no question about it," said a senior State department 
official. "But we should not stop trying because if the cultivation 
returns, it will be harder to go after in future years." US officials say 
the range of policy options under consideration includes buying back this 
year's poppy crop, providing alternative employment for farmers at harvest 
time, and eradicating production with effective law enforcement. But in a 
clear sign that the heroin trade has resumed in Afghanistan, Pakistani 
police recently seized more than 1,300 pounds of heroin and 550 pounds of 
morphine in Baluchistan province. United Nations officials told the 
Associated Press that the seizure was the first large quantity of heroin 
intercepted from Afghanistan.

As they attempt to draw up plans to intercept this year's harvest, US 
officials believe European countries should play a bigger role.

"The drug of choice in the US is cocaine.

The drug of choice in western Europe is heroin," said a State department 
official. "While the US is not going to walk away from this problem, it 
seems to me that Europe has much more self-interest in dealing with the 
drugs crop in Afghanistan."

The Drug Enforcement Administration is working with the Pentagon to 
identify existing stockpiles of opium inside Afghanistan. Extensive 
stockpiles ensured the drug trade prospered in spite of the Taliban's ban 
on new production last year. However, US forces have only recently begun to 
flush out pro-Taliban fighters in the Helmand province of southern 
Afghanistan, which represents the world's most productive region for opium 
poppy farming.

The new government in Kabul has already suggested it can only tackle poppy 
production with substantial international aid. Hamid Karzai, the new Afghan 
leader, told NBC television earlier this week: "We are very determined to 
stop this by whatever means.

But we must also try to return to the Afghan people what is theirs.

That's a good life, a good agricultural base and an economic opportunity. 
Without that kind of medium, it will be hard to stop the production of 
poppy or to prevent smuggling or the trafficking of narcotics."
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager