Pubdate: Sun, 18 Jan 2015 Source: Today's Zaman (Turkey) Copyright: 2015sFeza Newspaper Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.todayszaman.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4547 Author: Salim Avci, Ankara PKK MAKES USE OF LEGAL LOOPHOLES TO MAINTAIN DRUG PRODUCTION A General Directorate of Security (EGM) report on the fight against drug-trafficking and production has revealed that the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) makes millions of dollars growing marijuana in the southeastern provinces by exploiting the lack of effective legal measures to tackle illegal drug production in areas that are not monitored by the government. The report also indicated that mines are placed around the fields and that snipers occupy high positions to protect the marijuana fields from outside intruders. Speaking to Sunday's Zaman, Anadolu Atayun, a former chief police inspector and one of the officials who took part in the preparation of the EGM report, said that there are legal loopholes that serve to encourage the PKK to cultivate marijuana in these vast fields. "The cultivation of marijuana is only punished with prison sentences of less than a year. Furthermore, the penal code lacks provisions for prosecutors to investigate the assets of individuals who are suspected of having acquired wealth through illegal gains. ... We spoke to prosecutors, gendarmerie forces and police who all complained about the lack of regulations deterring individuals from cultivating marijuana," said Atayun. Atayun went on to say that if the fields were registered to individuals, the PKK's drug production would be hampered. He pointed out that as the fields that are not registered to anyone, no one is held responsible for the illegal use of the land, and the PKK continues to evade effective surveillance by the police. Atayun went on to say that attempts by local state officials to conduct land surveys in the fields were prevented by the headmen of the villages where the marijuana fields are located. He said that the village chiefs petitioned the state authorities not to open those areas to any activity. When local officials informed Ankara of their inability to conduct land surveys in the villages, the government suggested that the local officials scrap their plans to open those lands for use, according to Atayun. He said that the reason the government is not pushing for the opening of those unregistered fields to use is related to its desire to keep the settlement process on track. In the EGM report, a village chief was quoted as saying in his petition: "We do not want any subsidy from the state. If the government registers [the lands in question] then the village as a whole will take to the mountains and join the PKK." Police unresponsive to illegal drug production In the report, the EGM levels criticism against the Diyarbak r and Bingoel Security Directorates for continuing to remain unresponsive, despite knowing locations where the PKK stores illegal drugs. It was acknowledged by the EGM that police forces fear that interfering with the PKK's management of marijuana fields would lead to a clash with PKK forces and consequently hamper the settlement process. Thus, police prefer to launch operations that are small in scale, rather than raiding the major locations where the PKK stores drugs, the report says. "An in-depth inquiry has revealed that [in Turkey] only 1 percent [of drugs produced domestically] were seized. In particular, it was uncovered that in 2014, 10 to 12,000 tons of heroin substances were produced. All of this production is consumed in the domestic market," stated the report. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom