Afghan opium production 'soars'

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=== News Update ===

Afghan opium production ‘soars’

 

By Imogen Foulkes

BBC News, Geneva

Opium production in Afghanistan is soaring out of control, the annual UN report on illegal drugs says.

Afghanistan produces 92% of the world’s illegal opium, the UN says

The World Drug Report says more than 90% of illegal opium, which is used to make heroin, comes from Afghanistan.

It says cultivation of opium poppies increased dramatically in the country, despite the presence of more than 30,000 international troops there.

The report says Afghanistan is unlikely to regain real security until the production of illegal drugs is tackled.

Facts and figures
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2007 World drug report[7.27MB]
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In the 1980s, Afghanistan produced some 30% of the world’s opium, but now that figure has more than tripled, the UN document says.

It says that Helmand province alone cultivates almost half the world’s illegal opium.

Thomas Pietschmann, the report’s author, says production in Helmand has now outstripped that of entire countries.

“The province of Helmand itself is around 70,000 hectares under cultivation, which is three times the total area under cultivation in Myanmar (Burma).

“So only one province, three times as important as the whole of Myanmar, the second-largest opium-producing country,” Mr Pietschmann says.

The report says that while global co-ordination of drug law enforcement has improved, traffickers of heroin from Afghanistan and of cocaine from Colombia are now targeting new routes in Africa.

The UN says this threat must be addressed immediately if Africa – already struggling under the burden of HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria – is to avoid the serious health damage caused by drug abuse.

The report also shows that the overall market for illicit drugs remained relatively stable in 2005-2006.

source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6239734.stm

Related News :
1. Afghanistan now nearly ‘a narcotics state’
More than three years after a pro-U.S. government was installed, Afghanistan has been unable to contain opium poppy production and is “on the verge of becoming a narcotics state,” according to a presidential report. The report said the area in Afghanistan devoted to poppy cultivation last year set a new record of 206,700 hectares, more than triple the figure for 2003. When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, opium production was nearly halted. So, how come the Taliban is terrorist, then!!! Now there is a bumper crop. Look for the quiz on Afghanistan further down.
http://www.infowars.net/Pages/Mar05/050305Afghanistan.html

2. The Truth About The USA, Drugs and Afghanistan
“Before 1980, Afghanistan produced 0% of the world’s opium. But then the CIA moved in, and by 1986 they were producing 40% of the world’s heroin supply. By 1999, they were churning out 3,200 TONS of heroin a year ­ nearly 80% of the total market supply. But then something unexpected happened. The Taliban rose to power, and by 2000 they had destroyed nearly all of the opium fields. Production dropped from 3,000+ tons to only 185 tons, a 94% reduction!”
http://www.khilafah.com/home/category.php?DocumentID=13577&TagID=1

3. Who benefits from the Afghan Opium Trade?
The United Nations has announced that opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has soared and is expected to increase by 59% in 2006. The production of opium is estimated to have increased by 49% in relation to 2005. The Western media in chorus blame the Taliban and the warlords. The Bush administration is said to be committed to curbing the Afghan drug trade: “The US is the main backer of a huge drive to rid Afghanistan of opium… “
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=CHO20060921&articleId=3294

4. UN Report Says Afghan Government Protect Drug Traffickers
KABUL (AP)–Afghanistan’s criminal underworld has compromised key government officials who protect drug traffickers, allowing a record opium trade that won’t be stamped out for a generation to flourish, an ominous new U.N. report released Tuesday said.
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20061128\ACQDJON200611281353DOWJONESDJONLINE000662.htm&selected=9999&selecteddisplaysymbol=9999&StoryTargetFrame=_top&mkt=WORLD&chk=unchecked〈=&link=&headlinereturnpage=http://www.international.na

5. Afghanistan’s opium crop at an all-time high
The question is why. Under Taliban rule, which began in the late 1990s, Afghanistan just about kicked the growing habit by 2001. After five years the Taliban is slipping back in, but poppy production has grown by leaps and bounds. According to the Washington Post, “Opium production in Afghanistan, which provides more than 90 percent of the world’s heroin, broke all records in 2006, reaching a historic high despite ongoing U.S.-sponsored eradication efforts, the Bush administration reported yesterday.
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_1511.shtml

6. Drug mafia, CIA blamed for sacking of Afghan governor
KABUL: In a country flooded with narcotics traffickers and corrupt government officials, one of Afghanistan’s few remaining ‘clean’ governors, Mohammed Daud, has been removed from his position, and many are blaming the drug mafia and the CIA for his abrupt dismissal.
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?165264

7. Heroin is “Good for Your Health”: Occupation Forces (US) support Afghan Narcotics Trade Multibillion dollar earnings for organized crime and Western financial Institutions.
The occupation forces in Afghanistan are supporting the drug trade, which brings between 120 and 194 billion dollars of revenues to organized crime, intelligence agencies and Western financial institutions.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=20070604&articleId=5514

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