Pubdate: Sun, 18 Jun 2006
Source: Arizona Daily Star (AZ)
Copyright: 2006 Pulitzer Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.azstarnet.com/star/today/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/23
Author: Philip Dine, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

IRAN HELPING CUT HEROIN TRAFFIC FROM AFGHANISTAN

WASHINGTON -- The critical fight against the illicit drug trade in 
Afghanistan is getting help from an unlikely source: Iran. Though 
rarely discussed in this country, Iran's role in combating Afghan 
trafficking has been by all accounts highly positive and has come at 
great cost, reflected most dramatically in the deaths of thousands of 
Iranian border police. Iran also has helped build security border 
posts inside Afghanistan to catch or deter narcotics smugglers, a 
program described to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch by the former Afghan 
interior minister who worked with Iranians to develop it. "Very 
constructive role"

"Iran has played a very constructive role in combating the drug 
trade, especially along the border it shares with Afghani-stan," said 
Antonio Costa, executive director of the Vienna-based United Nations 
Office on Drugs and Crime. Iran's Afghan aid, he said, includes 
"providing economic support to help opium farmers switch to 
alternative crops." Iran's effort is occurring against a backdrop of 
volatile developments: ● The mounting opium poppy cultivation 
and heroin production in Afghanistan fuels a fierce insurgency that 
aims to overthrow the Afghan government. U.S.-led forces are 
conducting their largest offensive since 2001 against insurgents in 
the drug-ridden provinces in the south. ● Three straight years 
of bumper crops have flooded Iran and Western Europe with Afghan 
heroin, a trail now leading to the United States as well, with 
Chicago the chief distribution center. Missouri and Illinois 
officials say the highly pure heroin is attracting younger, affluent 
users and causing a spike in overdoses. ● U.S. talk about Iran 
in recent months has been sharply negative amid concerns over the 
Middle East nation's pursuit of a nuclear program. "You never hear about it"

As founder of the Afghani-stan-America Foundation, former Republican 
Rep. Don Ritter of Pennsylvania has led efforts to build an Afghan 
market economy. He returned Monday from his 16th trip to Afghanistan 
since 2001. "In terms of collaboration between the Iranians and the 
Afghanis on the drug problem," Ritter said, "you never hear anything 
about it, you don't read about it."

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., chairman of a key House panel 
dealing with Afghanistan, learned recently of Iran's activities. "The 
fact that the Iranians are as anti-American as they are, and yet 
they're playing a positive role in the opium trade, is somewhat 
surprising," he said. Iran shares a 600-mile border with Afghanistan. 
Officials at Iran's permanent mission to the United Nations in Vienna 
say that in seizing tons of Afghan heroin, they've lost 3,500 
security troops over the past decade. That is a reliable figure, 
according to a variety of experts on the region. Indeed, Iran has 
tackled the drug problem far more rigorously than Afghanistan's other 
major neighbor, Pakistan, a top U.S. ally in the war on terror, said 
Ashraf Haidari, first secretary for security and development at the 
Afghan Embassy in Washington.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman