04 October 2001
Text: Taliban Profits from Drug Trade, State Department Says
(Afghan-based drug trafficking has "disastrous effects" on region)
(1120)
Information from U.S. and international intelligence-gathering
provides "ample evidence" that Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia
"has condoned and profited" from the drug trade, according to William
Bach of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement
Affairs at the U.S. State Department. Bach testified on the link
between drug trafficking and terrorism before a congressional
committee on October 3.
Bach said the State Department has no evidence clearly linking drug
profits and suspected terrorist leader Osama bin Laden or his al Qaida
terrorist network. "While we do not have clear evidence directly
linking drug traffickers and terrorists in Afghanistan, Taliban
responsibility is obvious, particularly given its de facto control
over 90 percent of the country," said Bach.
Bach cited intelligence reports estimating that the Taliban has
collected $40 million from taxes it imposes on the opium poppy crop.
While the Taliban has issued decrees banning cultivation of the plants
from which heroin is derived, Bach said other evidence indicates that
is not a sincere effort. Rather, Bach cited reports suggesting that
opium poppies may be stockpiled in Afghanistan in an effort to better
control the price and supply of drugs in the region.
Following is the Bach testimony as prepared for delivery
(begin text)
William Bach
Director, Office of Asia, Africa, Europe, NIS Programs
Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs
Department of State
October 3, 2001
Testimony Before the Committee on Government Reform U.S. House of
Representatives Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and
Human Resources
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee: I am happy to join Mr.
Hutchinson to discuss the Taliban, terrorism and drug trade with the
Subcommittee this morning.
We have ample evidence that the Taliban has condoned and profited from
the drug trade. We also know that the Taliban has provided sanctuary
to and received military assistance from terrorist groups in
Afghanistan. Taliban taxes on opium harvests, heroin production, and
drug shipments have helped finance its military operations against
rival factions. These taxes also bestowed legitimacy on Afghan drug
traffickers. Despite the Taliban's ban on poppy cultivation last year,
opiates smuggled out of Afghanistan continue to destabilize the region
by spreading addiction, HIV/AIDS, and crime. This uninterrupted
trafficking suggests that the Taliban's poppy ban is not a sincere
effort to stop the drug trade.
Since the late 1990s, heroin seizures and the open construction of
drug labs indicate that Afghanistan's illicit opium industry has gone
from exporting raw materials to foreign refineries to the production
and marketing of heroin, which, compared to opium, is far more
profitable. Before last year's ban, the Taliban collected from 10-20
percent taxes on the yield of poppy fields, as well as taxing the
processing, shipment and sale of opiates.
According to UN estimates for 1999, the value of the Afghan opium crop
at the farm gate was $265 million, which represents at least $40
million in tax revenue for the Taliban. However, if the Taliban is
directly involved in the drug trade, as alleged in reports cited by
the UN Committee of Experts on Resolution 1333, its revenue may be far
greater.
As I mentioned earlier, the Taliban enforced an effective ban on the
cultivation of poppy last year, eliminating approximately two-thirds
of the world's annual illicit opium supply. However, while prices for
opium and heroin have increased substantially over the past year, the
flow of opiates out of Afghanistan has not abated. Narcotics
interdictions by Afghanistan's neighbors show record seizures of
Afghan opiates flowing out and precursor chemicals flowing in. This
clearly indicates that Afghan heroin traffickers are drawing from
their stockpiles, presumably with the knowledge and perhaps the
collusion of some in the Taliban.
Although we don't know the size of opium stockpiles in Afghanistan, we
may infer their existence from our estimates of Afghan poppy crops in
recent years. After processing, these crops would potentially have
yielded an average of 268 MT of opiates in heroin equivalent each of
the five years between 1996-2000. After subtracting for seizures and
opiate consumption in regional markets -- including Europe, Russia,
Central Asia, Southwest Asia and Africa -- it is likely that
traffickers stockpiled significant amounts of opium and heroin, enough
to ensure the continued supply to their traditional markets. The UNDCP
estimates that Afghanistan might have stockpiled as much as 60 percent
of its production each year since 1996.
While we do not have clear evidence directly linking drug traffickers
and terrorists in Afghanistan, Taliban responsibility is obvious,
particularly given its de facto control over 90 percent of the
country. A report by the UN Committee of Experts on Resolution 1333
for sanctions against the Taliban states that "funds raised from the
production and trade of opium and heroin are used by the Taliban to
buy arms and war materials and to finance the training of terrorists
and support the operation of extremists in neighboring countries and
beyond."
There is a natural symbiosis between the Taliban and narcotics
traffickers, whose smuggling and money laundering networks would be of
great help in the Taliban's efforts to circumvent UN sanctions. And
the Taliban, we know, has given aid, training, and sanctuary to
various Islamic terrorist and separatist groups in Afghanistan,
including Osama bin Laden's al Qaida group. Al Qaida fighters have
taken an increasingly prominent role in the Taliban's war against the
Northern Alliance, reportedly because war-weary indigenous Afghans are
reluctant to fight.
The UN reports that campaigns against the Northern Alliance are used
by foreign terrorist groups in Afghanistan as live fire exercises for
their fighters. In addition, we are aware that Osama bin Laden has
close relations with top Taliban leaders. Press reports indicate that
bin Laden encouraged the Taliban to increase its drug trade as part of
his war against the West.
The Afghan drug trade has had a disastrous effect on neighboring
countries. Pakistan and Iran are experiencing serious increases in
heroin addiction and HIV/AIDS cases linked to intravenous drug use
caused by the "leakage" of heroin transiting these countries. Iran is
the major transit route for opiates smuggled from Afghanistan to the
Persian Gulf, Turkey, Russia, and Europe. The government of Iran has
demonstrated great resolve in its drug war, despite heavy losses. Over
three thousand Iranian law enforcement personnel have been killed in
the last 12 years in firefights with heavily armed drug traffickers.
Nevertheless, Iran leads all regional countries in drug and precursor
chemical seizures.
Mr. Chairman, thank you again for the opportunity to discuss these
issues with you.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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