01 March 2006
U.S. Narcotics Report Finds Continuing Problems in Afghanistan
State Department says Afghan trafficking spills into neighboring Pakistan
By David Shelby
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington – The production and trafficking of opium and its derivatives continue to be a major challenge to Afghanistan’s political and economic development and threatens regional stability, according to the State Department’s 2006 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report issued March 1.
The report says that despite a 48 percent decrease in hectares under poppy cultivation from 2004 to 2005, Afghanistan still produces nearly 90 percent of the world’s opium poppy supply. Due to favorable weather conditions in 2005, the drop in cultivation resulted in only a 10 percent fall in total yield. Much of the crop is refined into heroin and morphine at drug labs inside the country. The report estimates that at $2.8 billion, the opium trade accounts for one-third of Afghanistan’s gross domestic product (GDP).
“Afghanistan’s huge drug trade severely impacts efforts to rebuild the economy, develop a strong democratic government based on the rule of law, and threatens regional stability,” the report says.
The report indicates that much of Afghanistan’s processed opium is trafficked through neighboring Pakistan. The report says Pakistani traffickers in the remote and lawless Balochistan and North West Frontier provinces provide financing to Afghan poppy farmers and supply a conduit for the refined opiates en route to Turkey, Iran, Russia and Eastern Europe.
“To a very significant extent, when it comes to opiates, Pakistan is part of the massive Afghan opium production/refining ‘system,’” the report says.
The report says Afghanistan’s unstable security conditions and corruption, particularly at the provincial and local levels, make it difficult for the central government to confront the problem.
“Criminal financiers and narcotics traffickers exploit the government’s weakness and corruption,” it says.
Nevertheless, the Afghan government has taken numerous steps to address the problem. The government has adopted an eight-part counternarcotics strategy consisting of a public information campaign, alternative livelihoods for poppy farmers, stronger law enforcement, a stronger criminal justice system, eradication of crops, institutional development, regional cooperation and demand reduction among domestic users.
In 2005, the Afghan government adopted strict new counternarcotics legislation; established a Poppy Elimination Program focused on public information, alternative livelihoods and eradication; and established a Central Narcotics Tribunal to move expeditiously against narcotics criminals. With the help of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the Afghan government strengthened its interdiction and investigation activities.
Despite the new programs, however, the report states, “Because of the limited reach of law enforcement, corruption, some lack of government will, and weak judicial institutions, the GOA [government of Afghanistan] has not been able to enforce its decree banning opium production. The GOA will not likely have the capacity to enforce the decree for some years.”
The report also said efforts to strengthen law enforcement in Afghanistan simply might shift the bulk of the trafficking operations across the porous border into Pakistan.
In response to this threat, the Pakistani government has increased its personnel in the Anti-Narcotics Force and the Balochistan Frontier Corps. It also has forged agreements with the Afghan government to share operational and long-term intelligence regarding drug trafficking activities along their common border and participate in “hammer and anvil” military operation in coordination with the Afghan army.
The 2006 INCSR is the 23rd annual report to be published in accordance with the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. The report provides the factual basis for the designations contained in the president's report to Congress on major drug-producing and drug transit countries. A country's performance in controlling drug trafficking crimes is a factor in determining the assistance it will get from the U.S. government. (See related article.)
The full text of the two-volume 2006 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report is available on the Department of State Web site.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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