29.04.2008 - Source: Independent

Article on the relation of drug traffic and arms trade and how the heroin trade is fuelling the Taliban insurgency ("Drugs for guns: how the Afghan heroin trade is fuelling the Taliban insurgency") [ID 23176]

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11.2007 - Source: Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation

Poppy cultivation provides jobs and income, especially for poor, rural Afghans ("11th European Country of Origin Information Seminar; Vienna, 21 - 22 June 2007; Country Report; Afghanistan") [ID 21874]

"Poppy cultivation, being a highly labour intensive process, provides jobs. Poppy was seen as ”development” by poor, rural Afghans, providing them with a little bit of disposable income – indicated for instance by the appearance of the first shops in rural villages in parts of Badakhshan in 2003/2004."

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11.2007 - Source: Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation

In 2004 Afghanistan produced an estimated 87 percent of the world market share of opium ("11th European Country of Origin Information Seminar; Vienna, 21 - 22 June 2007; Country Report; Afghanistan") [ID 21877]

"As poppy cultivation and trafficking surged from 2002, expanding to new areas, the former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani, publicly warned that Afghanistan was becoming a narco-state. By 2004 Afghanistan was producing an estimated 87% of the world market share of opium. Narco-criminality strengthened and united forces opposed to the development of an accountable central state and the rule of law, enabling them to coopt state mechanisms."

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28.06.2007 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

According to UNODC Afghanistan produces about 92 percent of the heroin consumed in the world; about one million people, or 3.7 percent of the population, are considered to be addicted to different kinds of narcotics ("Demand for narcotics outstrips available treatment for drug addicts") [ID 20686]

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21.03.2007 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

According to the executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, poppy cultivation in country's South is "out of control" ("UN Says Afghan Opium Production 'Out Of Control'") [ID 19348]

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03.2007 - Source: British Agencies Afghanistan Group

Decrease in poppy cultivation in the Northern provinces ("BAAG Afghanistan Monthly Review; March 2007") [ID 19606]

"In a briefing given to the UN, on 21st March, by the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Antonio Maria Costa, he stated that there is a notable decrease in poppy cultivation in the northern provinces of Afghanistan but that the anticipated increase in the south will largely offset any positive gains against overall opium production in Afghanistan."

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09.02.2007 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Helmand province: 2007 expected to be the biggest year yet for opium production; farmers say they have no choice due to lack of support from government ("Helmand Heads for Record Poppy Harvest") [ID 18886]

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24.11.2005 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Acoording to UNDOC, 2006 increasing drug production expected; Afghanistan produces 87% of world's opium poppies ("Afghanistan: Drug Agency Anticipates Increased Opium Production") [#39687],  [ID 2253]

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22.11.2005 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

International drug-policy advisory forum Senlis Council recommends termination of expensive and unsuccessful opium eradication programme; licensed and controlled production of opium for medical use ("Afghanistan: Legal Opium?") [#39565],  [ID 2254]

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13.01.2005 - Source: Human Rights Watch

Revenue from poppy production amounts to 50% of the GDP of Afghanistan and provides secure income for warlords ("World Report 2005") [#28207],  [ID 2255]

"In many areas around Afghanistan, poppy production has reached record highs, and many factions— including Taliban and anti-government forces—are suspected of engaging in drug trafficking. U.N. and U.S. officials estimated that in 2004 Afghan-produced opium and heroin accounted for approximately 75 percent of the entire world supply, and approximately 90 percent of that consumed in Europe. The drug revenue amounts to approximately U.S.$2.5 billion—half of Afghanistan Gross Domestic Product. The inflated profits provide warlords with an independent source of income which make it especially difficult to establish rule of law."

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Open document

30.12.2004 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Many farmer's daughters are being paid in return for opium debts, as farmers have very few legal options to resolve their debts with drug dealers ("Daughters Sold to Settle Debts") [#27974],  [ID 2256]

"Like many other farmers in Afghanistan, Gul Miran had planned to pay back the loan with the proceeds from his crop of poppies, which would eventually be turned into heroin. But as part of its stepped up effort to combat the drug trade in the country, the government had ploughed under his fields and Gul Miran was left with nothing.
"I accepted the girl in return for my loan,” said Haji Naqibullah, who had advanced Gul Miran the money. “We had an agreement. He would [pay me back] regardless of whether his crops were wiped out by the weather or by the government.
"In a year or 18 months I will marry her off to my youngest son," he said. "He is 19-years-old and has been married to his first wife for two years but has not had a child yet."
Payenda Gul, who grows poppies in the Shinwar district, was forced to give his 17-year-old daughter to a divorced man of 38 in order to pay his debt.
"When you have an agreement with an opium dealer, nothing but the opium can be paid but they cannot refuse the daughters.
[...]
Syed Jafer Muram, deputy director of the Nangarhar narcotics-control authority, said that farmers have few legal options to resolve their debts with drug dealers.
"Cases like this don't come to the notice of officials,” he said. “If a father tried to get help for his daughter he would be arrested for opium trading. Such issues are usually solved through a jirga.”
Malik Sydullah Momand, a tribal elder of the Batikoat district, agreed that such disputes should be resolved by a local jirga, an Afghan tradition where village elders settle disputes between families.
"People respect jirga and accept its resolutions," he said. "It is a matter of shame if a man has to take his daughter's case to the courts.
"If daughters are being paid in return for opium debts it should be stopped. It is likely we will try to prohibit this practice. But it needs time. It can't happen overnight."
An official with the International Committee on Human Rights said the organisation is aware about the situation but that there is little that can be done unless official complaints are lodged.
"If such practices were brought to our attention we could act,” said Sharifa Shahab. “But neither ICHR nor the police are informed."

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23.08.2004 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Report on poppy eradication efforts and opium addiction in Afghanistan and the region ("Bitter-Sweet Harvest: Afghanistan's New War") [#24915],  [ID 2258]

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19.03.2004 - Source: UN General Assembly

Efforts to combat illegal drugs continue against background of expanding opium production ("The situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security A/58/742–S/2004/230") [#20724],  [ID 2259]

"[...] 30. A continuing and expanding threat to the success of State-building in Afghanistan is the growth in the production, trafficking and trade in illegal narcotics. Its negative effects are widespread: it distorts the wage structure, generates corruption within the civilian and military establishment at all levels, and distorts the finances of the agricultural economy. The annual farmer’s intention survey for Afghanistan, conducted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and released on 18 February 2004, brings further bad news, indicating that opium production may further expand in the coming year. Two producers out of three interviewed stated that they intended to increase significantly their opium production in 2004. The rapid assessment survey subsequently conducted in February gave additional confirmation of that likely trend.
31. Against this deteriorating background, efforts to combat illegal drugs continue. The ban on drug production, trafficking and consumption has been codified in the new Afghan constitution. The narcotic drugs law, drafted by the Ministry of Justice and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime last year, came into force on 25 January, providing a robust legal framework for prosecuting drug-related offences. The Government, with support from the coalition forces, has initiated a strategy to combat narcotics more robustly and recently conducted successful interdiction operations in Badakhshan and Laghman Provinces. In addition, a central eradication planning cell, led by the Ministry of the Interior, with support from the United Kingdom — the lead nation for international assistance in Afghan drug control — the United States and the Counter-Narcotics Directorate is being established to identify target districts for poppy eradication and to assess the effectiveness of the eradication campaign. [...]"

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Open document

30.10.2003 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Poppy cultivation continues to grow; opium poppy now planted in 28 of the country's 32 provinces ("Poppy cultivation continues unabated") [#17424],  [ID 2260]

"Poppy cultivation in beleaguered Afghanistan continues to grow, despite efforts to curb its spread, a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has revealed. In its annual survey, the Vienna-based agency found that opium poppy was now being planted in 28 of the country's 32 provinces."

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10.2003 - Source: UN Office on Drugs and Crime

UNODC survey on the growing opium cultivation in Afghanistan 2003 ("Afghanistan Opium Survey 2003") [#17425],  [ID 2261]

"Conclusion

The results of the 2003 survey confirm that opium poppy cultivation and production continued to increase, though moderately, in Afghanistan. Their extension to previously unaffected, or marginally affected, areas is worrying. It can partly be explained by the persistence of high opium prices, which stimulate an activity now involving 264,000 rural families (representing 1.7 million people, or 7% of Afghanistan’s population). These families derive a potential income from opium that amounts to about US$ 1.02 billion in 2003. Although it is down 15% from last year, that income is still equivalent to almost one fifth of the country’s legitimate GDP. Taking into account the additional profits made by traffickers, the Afghan authorities must grapple, in their efforts to rebuild the country, with an illicit opium economy that generates revenues about half the size of the legitimate GDP. Even if forecasts of rapid growth of the legal economy materialize, the huge revenues generated by the illicit opium economy will continue to compromise governance of the country.
The Afghan Government has developed a drug control strategy to tackle the formidable task of dismantling the drug economy. Achieving that objective requires the implementation, under adverse conditions, of a complex and well balanced set of measures. They must increase the risk of illegality, unknot the intricate web of warlords and traffickers’ relations and remove the pressure they exert on local communities, while creating a socioeconomic environment that offers a way of life to rural households that reconciles the need to secure bare necessities with a sense of civic responsibility. Reaching these goals demands an effort on the part of Afghan society that is unlikely to be sustained unless the international community demonstrates an equal determination to support it."

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Afghanistan Opium Survey 2003 - Executive Summary

29.09.2003 - Source: International Crisis Group

Massive increase in opium production; comanders using rising drug revenues to fund their activities and weapons purchases ("Peacebuilding in Afghanistan") [#16299],  [ID 2262]

"The massive increase in opium production is now an additional source of conflict because of the vast profits it brings. For example, commanders in the north have been occupying both government land and private land in order to grow poppy, while in parts of Hazarajat commanders are fighting over control of villages in order to tax the crop. Comanders are becoming increasingly independent from central or factional control because of the rising drug revenues they can use to fund their activities and weapons purchases."

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25.08.2003 - Source: ReliefWeb

Agreement to fight illicit drugs in Afghanistan signed; help to establish a new drug interdiction department within the Ministry of Interior ("United Nations, Afghanistan launch drugs interdiction unit") [#15582],  [ID 2263]

"The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has just added another project to fight narcotics to its largely expanded portfolio of 20 projects -- worth $38 million -- in the fight against illicit drugs in Afghanistan. Antonio Maria Costa, UNODC Executive Director, and Ali Ahmad Jalali, the Afghan Minister of Interior, signed an agreement in Kabul on Sunday to help establish a new drug interdiction department within the Ministry."

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23.07.2003 - Source: UN General Assembly

Government took several steps in the fight against illegal narcotics ("Report of the Secretary-General on the situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security A/57/850–S/2003/754") [#14760],  [ID 2264]

"34. During the reporting period, the Government took several steps in the fight against illegal narcotics. In May 2003, President Karzai approved the national drug control strategy formulated by the Counter-Narcotics Directorate, the Government’s lead agency on this issue, with assistance from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the lead country in counter-narcotics activities, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The Counter-Narcotics Directorate is liaising closely with provincial administrations on the implementation of the Government’s opium poppy eradication campaign. Crop eradication efforts reduced poppy cultivation in Helmand, Kandahar, Nangarhar and Uruzgan provinces, which have been among the major poppy-cultivating provinces. The Ministerial Conference on Drug Routes from Central Asia to Europe, held in May 2003, provided new momentum to promoting coordination among countries affected by drugs originating from Afghanistan. In the final conclusions of the Presidency, all countries were encouraged to adopt national strategies for supply and demand reduction and to set up a single lead agency to coordinate national policy."

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15.04.2003 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Nangarhar province: at least 1 person killed when residents clashed with police attempting to uproot poppies; 1 man killed and 2 injured in a similar incident in February ("Opium Growers Defy Ban") [#12085],  [ID 2265]

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01.2003 - Source: Overseas Development Institute

Although President Karzai has reiterated the Taliban's ban on poppy growing, there is no Afghan security force capable of enforcing this edict ("Afghanistan’s political and constitutional development (Authors: Chris Johnson, William Maley, Alexander Thier and Ali Wardak)") [#11961],  [ID 2266]

"Although President Karzai has reiterated the Taliban's ban on poppy growing, there is no Afghan security force capable of enforcing this edict, and the success of the ban therefore relies on the willingness of local warlords to destroy crops and punish growers. They have little incentive to do this as the crop provides them with a ready source of revenue through taxes on its growth and movement. And while the Taliban profited by the drugs trade, it did not take it over. Thus, the change in power in the country has left the structures controlling the industry largely intact, and well able to profit from the security vacuum. Cultivation has resumed on a large scale: opium production is at record levels, and poppies are being grown in districts that have never seen them before. In some places, this has been the result of a highly organised campaign by traders to extend growing areas. In Ghor province, for example, traders from Helmand arrived just before the planting season, when
people were most in need of cash, and offered seeds and cash up front, with more to come on harvest. As a result, a large area of Ghor was planted with poppy in 2002, transforming the economy of this once-poor province. At the same time, the amount of heroin produced in Afghanistan has reportedly increased dramatically.
The drug traffic emanating from Afghanistan's poppy harvest undermines the security of the whole region, providing a ready source of cash for the activities of radical anti-state groups. While the trade is certainly profitable to some Afghans, the biggest profits are made outside the country, and state or quasi-state interests are involved in many places. Russian border guards maintain tight control over the major crossings on the Afghan­Tajik border, and the governments of both Tajikistan and Turkmenistan have been credibly accused of profiting from the trade. Drugs are therefore not a separate issue from security, nor from the United States' declared goal of defeating terrorism; rather, they are an integral part of it. While cultivation is often a response to poverty, allowing it to continue transforms the problem of poverty into one of regional security.
Many Afghans believe the poppy trade to be against the teachings of Islam and do not want to become involved in cultivation. Others have had bitter experiences at the hands of drug dealers. Credit is offered against future crops, but penalties are harsh if a farmer cannot repay. Carriers to Iran, where there is a serious attempt to control the drug trade and penalties for smuggling are harsh, have sometimes lost their lives, leaving their families responsible for repaying the value of the drugs lost ­ a debt they have no way of discharging. There are stories of people who have lost all their possessions, even had their wives and daughters taken from them as a result of such debts, and there are many widows in the drug-smuggling districts near the Iranian border. There are also, encouragingly, reports of people who, emboldened by the promise of a return of law and order, have challenged the drug barons and refused to carry drugs any longer. There is also increasing concern in Afghanistan about the rising rate of addiction, a problem once known only in Badakhshan, where opium use has been traditional for many years.
The networks controlling the drug trade are intertwined with the local elite, and crop-substitution programmes will not work unless there is also a move to stop these elites from collecting taxes from the trade. Drug dealers must be caught and punished, and the international community needs to help fund and organise a security force capable of dealing with these problems. There also needs to be diplomatic pressure on other states, especially Russia, to combat the transit of drugs across their territory. Stores of opium and all heroin factories need to be found and destroyed. But the problem cannot be tackled simply by controls and punitive measures; moves against poverty are also required, and alternative forms of credit and of making a living are needed. It is possible to work with local communities on programmes, and barren land has been reclaimed and irrigation extended on the basis that it is not used for growing poppy. Whether such contracts can hold good in the long term will depend on the extent to which law enforcement can be restored."

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10.12.2002 - Source: ReliefWeb

Drug Control ("Afghanistan Transitional Administration and United Nations Humanitarian and Reconstruction Cooperation, 2002") [#12612],  [ID 2267]

Please see document for table. (page 24)

"The need to eradicate drugs remains one of the most pressing issues facing Afghanistan. In order to maintain momentum in this area, the Afghan Government, in close cooperation with UNODC, UNAMA and the Government of the United Kingdom convened the 2nd International Drug Control Coordination Meeting in Kabul on 17 October 2002. Further, with the support of UNODC Kabul, the National Security Council (NSC) of the Transitional Authority of Afghanistan has drafted a national drug control strategy. The strategy represents a cooperative effort among relevant line ministries, local authorities and community representatives. The draft has been forwarded to the relevant line ministries by the National Security Advisor for review and discussion at meetings of the working groups on the five thematic areas of drug control. The National Security Council intends to present the strategy to the Cabinet by the end of December 2002.

A pre-assessment survey of opium poppy cultivation in 2002 was conducted in February of this year on the basis of which the authorities implemented their poppy eradication campaign last summer. The Government of Afghanistan with UN support conducted the 2002 Annual Opium Poppy Survey from March to July. An assessment of the law enforcement capacity of the authorities in Kabul, Nangarhar and Kandahar provinces was conducted.

In order to standardise Afghan narcotic drugs law, a new drug law was drafted and is under review by the Ministry of Justice. Assistance is being provided to the ATA in strengthening the functioning of the new drug control and law enforcement entities that have been recently established.

The UN is supporting government authorities in establishing, training and equipping an investigative unit in the counter-narcotic law enforcement department of the Ministry of Interior.

Drug Demand Reduction Information, Advice and Training Service for Afghan Refugee women in the North West Frontier Province and Baluchistan provinces in Pakistan is provided.

Assistance to the Counter Narcotics Department within the National Security Council in preparing the draft National Drug Control Strategy for Afghanistan.

Financial assistance was provided to the Ministry of Interior for a joint meeting of Governors and Chiefs of Provincial Police Departments to prepare an action plan for Government ban on opium poppy cultivation during the planting season.

To assist in the implementation of the total ban decree on opium poppy cultivation in the current planting season (2002-2003), awareness campaign was launched in the Eastern and Southern zones.
Opportunities were created for Afghan authorities to participate in international seminars and conferences on drug control."

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31.10.2002 - Source: UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan

Many farmers have again started growing poppy ("Afghanistan Weekly Situation Report for Relief, Recovery and Reconstruction (25 - 31 October 2002)") [#9491],  [ID 2268]

"The poppy cultivation season is ongoing and based on local reports from various sources many farmers in this area have again started growing poppy crops. In the past few months many delegations from various parties: government, donors, international organizations visited this area, no specific plan for continued eradication of poppy with the loss of rural income offset by other development/employment assistance programs has yet emerged. The poppy eradication activities earlier this year (April - May 2002) had resulted in the unemployment of vast numbers of rural poor (seasonally estimated at over 0.25 million people)."

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unama_weekly_25_31_october2002.pdf

11.04.2002 - Source: BBC News

Interim administration begins with poppy destruction ("Afghan poppy destruction begins") [#30843],  [ID 2271]

"Afghanistan's interim administration has begun destroying poppy fields despite protests from farmers. Poppy cultivators in Afghanistan have defied the Thursday deadline to give up cultivating poppies, the flower used for making opium and heroin. The Afghan Government has been given $21m by the European Union to help eradicate this year's poppy crop. But angry farmers say the compensation they have been offered to destroy their harvests is insufficient. Armed with assault rifles, security forces have begun destroying the fields in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province. After the fall of the Taleban, many farmers borrowed money to plant poppies - one of the few profitable crops in the region. The farmers still have to pay back the cash. They say the compensation being offered by the government is derisory. Some have shot at government officials and burned their cars. Before the Taleban banned poppy growing, Afghanistan supplied 90% of the world's heroin."

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04.04.2002 - Source: International Crisis Group

International Crisis Group: Drug trafficing threatens Afghanistan's stability ("Central Asia: Border disputes and conflict potential") [#6395],  [ID 2269]

"Despite a short pause in October 2001, the volume of narco-trafficking has not abated in 2001-2, and it would be naive to imagine that the new interim government in Afghanistan will be able to have a serious impact on production and trade, at least in the short term. Indeed, reports suggest that opium poppy cultivation has restarted in a number of regions. Given that the country has a long way to go in rebuilding its infrastructure and economy after almost a quarter century of war, it will be difficult to convince Afghan farmers to switch to other crops without assistance in crop substitution and subsidies."

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02246ca.pdf

27.02.2002 - Source: Agence France Presse

Afghan drugs trade threatens future peace ("UN: Afghan Drugs Trade Threatens Future Peace") [#30841],  [ID 2270]

"Future peace in Afghanistan is under threat from the country's drug trade as illicit opium production rises following the collapse of the Taliban regime, UN officials warned on Wednesday (…) On Monday, the United States waived narcotics sanctions against Afghanistan despite what it described as the country's demonstrable failure" to curb poppy cultivation, in a move aimed at supporting the interim government. US President George W. Bush said the sanctions were waived in "vital national interests"."

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