Pubdate: Mon, 28 Oct 2002 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 2002 The New York Times Company Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298 Author: David Rohde AFGHANS LEAD WORLD AGAIN IN POPPY CROP KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 27 - Opium production in Afghanistan soared to near-record levels in 2002, making the war-ravaged country again the world's leading producer of the drug, according to a United Nations estimate released on Saturday. United Nations officials blamed "the total collapse of law and order" in the country during the American military campaign to oust the Taliban in the fall of 2001 for the increase, not the country's new government. Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, said in Rome that the fledgling government of the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, had tried to stem production, but needed more aid from the international community. "These figures are not the manifestation of a failure of Afghan authorities," he said. "They can only be interpreted in the context of that country's realities of the past year." The annual survey estimates that in 2002 Afghanistan will produce more than 3,700 tons of opium, which is used to produce heroin. That marks a huge increase over the 185 tons produced by the country in 2000, when the Taliban leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, issed an edict declaring the practice illegal. Afghanistan produced a record 5,070 tons of opium in 1999, according to the survey. Mr. Karzai's government announced an effort to pay farmers to allow government officials to destroy their opium crops earlier this year. But the program was thwarted by a lack of adequate money, violent demonstrations by farmers and the refusal of some local officials to destroy the crops. Mr. Costa called on the international community to help strengthen Afghan antinarcotics agencies and finance programs that reward farmers for growing legal crops. In addition to fueling addiction in Afghanistan and in Europe and the United States, cash from opium sales could help further destabilize Afghanistan itself. For years, rival warlords have fought over proceeds from the trade, which they use to pay and equip their own small private militias. High prices for the lucrative crop may also have helped fuel demand this year. The report estimated that the roughly 3,700 tons produced in 2002 will net a record $1.2 billion. The Taliban's sharp cutback in opium production in 2000 sent the prices for the drug soaring worldwide. The report found that 90 percent of the opium was produced in just five of the country's 32 provinces: Helmand in the south, Nangarhar in the east, Badakhshan in the north, and Oruzgan and Kandahar in the south, in order of production. All of those provinces are in areas where Mr. Karzai's weak central government has struggled to exert its authority. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens