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Infinite Justice -- Enduring Freedom
http://www.ftd.de/pw/in/FTDJT22QBQC.html?nv=se
Rund 50 $ bekommt ein Bauer pro Kilo Rohopium - drei- bis zehnmal mehr, als er mit Getreide erzielen könnte.
Noch in der Region, auf dem Weg vom Produzenten zum ersten Zwischenhändler, steigt der Kilopreis um das 60fache. Bis die Droge dann in den Straßenverkauf in den USA oder Europa gelangt, ist der Preis bis zu 6000-mal so hoch.
Nach Schätzungen des Rates für Außen- und Verteidigungspolitik erzielt alleine die russische Drogenmafia jährlich einen Umsatz von 2 bis 4 Mrd. $.
International werden nach EU-Angaben im Drogenhandel zwischen 400 und 500 Mrd. $ pro Jahr umgesetzt - das entspricht rund einem Zehntel des gesamten Welthandels. Die Branche ist damit Interpol zufolge "größer als die Öl- und Gasindustrie".
2000-12-11
http://usinfo.state.gov/regional/nea/sasia/afghan/fact/11dec00.htm
http://www.interpol.int/Public/Drugs/heroin/default.asp
Most of the drug seized along the Balkan Route was intended for the European Union countries where the heroin addict population is reported to range between half a million to one million. UK, Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Netherlands, were all seriously affected by the traffic. As far as new or growing consumer markets are concerned, the fact that heroin is more widely available in transit or storage areas means that some of it is now affecting the young population (Eastern and Central Europe).
The potential threat of heroin smuggling via the Central Asian Republics to Europe: The Central Asian Republics (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan) are becoming a focal point for opium and heroin traffic from Afghanistan bound for Russia and Western Europe. More than 65% of the Afghan opiates are exported via these countries.
[...]
North America remains relatively an important heroin market in the world. The US authorities seized 1478 kgs during 1998. Figures for 1999 should show a slight increase. For a number of years, heroin in the USA arrived mainly from Southeast Asian countries which had well-knit networks in the USA. In 1994, 68% arrived from Southeast Asia, 9% from Southwest Asia, 15% from Colombia and 8% from Mexico. However, during 1995, a dramatic change occurred. South American heroin dominated the American scene and accounted for nearly 62% of heroin seized domestically in the USA. The trend continued during 1997 1998 and 1999.
Drug Situation Report
September 2001
http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/intel/intel0901.html
Opium: According to the official U.S. Government estimate for 2001, Afghanistan produced an estimated 74 metric tons of opium from 1,685 hectares of land under opium poppy cultivation. This is a significant decrease from the 3,656 metric tons of opium produced from 64,510 hectares of land under opium poppy cultivation in 2000.
The United Nations Drug Control Program (UNDCP) also estimates opium production in Afghanistan. The UNDCP estimated a reduction in 2000 opium production from 1999, pointing to a 10 percent reduction in land under opium poppy cultivation and the impact of a protracted drought in the area as the causes for the smaller opium production. Estimates for 2001 have not been released.
| 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USG |
74
|
3,656
|
2,861
|
2,340
|
2,184
|
2,099
|
| UNDCP |
N/A
|
3,276
|
4,581
|
2,102
|
2,804
|
2,248
|
2000-09-26
Europol und UNO kündigen konzertierte Bekämpfung an
http://www.welt.de/daten/2000/09/26/0926de192997.htx?search=opium+in+afghanistan
Von Peter Scherer
Wiesbaden - Die internationalen Rauschgiftkartelle haben in diesem Jahr den Zufuhrdruck auf den bundesdeutschen Drogenmarkt massiv verstärkt. Dies gilt insbesondere für das in ganz Europa konsumierte Heroin, das nach Angaben des Bundeskriminalamts (BKA) zu 90 Prozent aus dem Bereich des "Goldenen Halbmondes" stammt, also aus der Region Pakistan, Afghanistan und Iran.
Besonders spektakulär sind die Steigerungsraten in Afghanistan. Dort konnte die Opiumproduktion im vergangnen Jahr auf 4600 Tonnen erhöht werden (1998: 2100 Tonnen), berichtet das BKA. Und für das laufende Jahr rechnete die deutsche Polizeizentrale sogar mit der Rekordmenge von 7000 Tonnen Opium.
Da etwa aus der Hälfte dieser Menge in einem relativ einfachen chemischen Prozess Heroin gewonnen wird, würde sich nach den Hochrechnungen des BKA daraus eine Menge von 350 Tonnen Heroin ergeben. Als bevorzugten Transportweg zu den europäischen Drogenmärkten nutzen die Kartelle heute neben den klassischen Routen über den Balkan vor allem die so genannte Seidenstraße, also die kaukasischen und zentralasiatischen Staaten, um dann über Russland und das übrige Osteuropa die eigentlichen Zielländer im Westen zu erreichen. Der früher favorisierte Weg über den Iran gilt den internationalen Rauschgiftorganisationen wegen des rigiden Vorgehens der dortigen Behörden inzwischen als zu risikoreich.
http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/briefingbook/page34-48.htm
Today, the traffic in illegal drugs, from manufacture to final street-level sale, is controlled by international organized crime syndicates from Colombia, Mexico, and other countries. From their headquarters overseas, foreign drug lords produce and distribute unprecedented volumes of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and marijuana throughout the United States.
Heroin: In recent years, Colombia-based traffickers have used their existing cocaine marketing channels to expand into the heroin trade. Today, opium poppy cultivation and heroin trafficking are an integral part of their operations. The opium poppy is grown along the eastern slopes of the Central Andean Mountain ranges in the central part of Colombia.
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/ops/war/2000/11/war-001109-saafg.htm
Q: There have been many accusations in the press that the Taliban is not doing enough to stop the drug trade in Afghanistan. What measures are you taking to halt it?
A: The supreme leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan [Mullah Mohamed Omar] has issued a decree to ban poppy cultivation in Afghanistan completely. We have also called on people living in areas under the control of the opposition to stop cultivating poppy on their lands. If the Islamic Emirate [Taliban] forces capture those areas, they will destroy the poppy cultivation there promptly.
We recently destroyed 25 heroin processing plants in Chattu, near the border with Pakistan. This was a great step taken by the Emirate. Unfortunately, however, the UNDCP [the UN Drug Control Programme, recently renamed the UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP)], has not even issued a report in this regard. They ought to send a letter to embassies informing them of the destruction of the heroin-processing plants, given that their own representative was there to witness it. We will continue our war - without any conditions - against poppy cultivation and illicit drug-trafficking in Afghanistan, even if we receive no international assistance.
The UNDCP previously claimed that Afghanistan was the center of drug-trafficking and demanded that the Afghan authorities do something about it. When the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan issued it decree banning poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, they held a meeting in the region and announced that they would form a belt around Afghanistan. We believe that they have done nothing to cooperate in banning poppy cultivation in Afghanistan. We believe this organisation, the UNDCP, is not sincere in putting an end to poppy cultivation. If there is no poppy cultivation or narcotics, there would be no need for the UNDCP to exist. In other words, in order to continue their existence and to receive further donations from other countries, they exaggerate the situation. They do not sincerely want to put an end to poppy cultivation, and their desire to survive is at the expense of others.
[...]
September 2001
http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/intel/intel0901.html
According to press reports dated August 31, 2001, Taliban leader Mullah Omar extended the opium poppy cultivation ban for another year, to the 2001-2002 growing season.
Prices: No official prices are available. Press reports indicate that the cost for raw opium, heroin, hashish and precursor chemicals are relatively low in Afghanistan. For example, the Iranian press reports that one kilogram of heroin can be purchased for US $2,000 on the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border, but the price rises to US $15,000 per kilogram in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. The same kilogram of heroin can be sold for US $150,000 in Moscow, Russia according to press reports.
Prices have reportedly increased significantly in Afghanistan and Pakistan since the opium poppy cultivation ban has been in effect. White export quality heroin purchased in Pakistan has doubled in price to approximately US $4,000 since July 2000.
http://usinfo.state.gov/topical/pol/terror/01100315.htm
It is estimated that 80 percent of opiate products in Europe originate in Afghanistan.
[...]
The Taliban reportedly banned the cultivation of cannabis in October 1996, and in late 1997, banned opium poppy cultivation.
On July 28, 2000, Taliban leader Mullah Omar, recognizing the importance of world opinion, issued a decree banning future opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan. The decree states that the Taliban will eradicate any poppy cultivation found in the 2001 growing season in areas under their control. Reportedly, this ban applies to any territory seized from the Northern Alliance. In February 2001, the UNDCP declared that the opium poppy cultivation ban was successful and that the 2001 crop was expected to be negligible. This marks the first real effort by the Taliban to reduce opium production. According to press reports dated August 31, 2001, Taliban leader Mullah Omar extended the opium poppy cultivation ban for another year, to the 2001-2002 growing season.
[...]
Prior to the imposed ban in July 2000, the price of a kilo of opium was US $44. Until recently, prices of opium ranged from US $350 to $400 per kilo. The price increase, which was limited to the immediate region and did not resonate to international markets, appeared to be a means for the Taliban to capitalize on a rise in the price of a commodity over which they exercise nearly total control.
[...]
Heroin produced in Afghanistan continues to be trafficked to the United States, although generally in small quantities.
Morphine base is usually produced for traffickers based in Turkey. The morphine base is then shipped to Turkey, where it is converted to heroin prior to shipment to European and North American markets.
[...]
Afghanistan produces no essential or precursor chemicals. Acetic anhydride (AA), which is the most commonly used acetylating agent in heroin processing, is smuggled primarily from Pakistan, India, the Central Asian Republics, China, and Europe.
The price of heroin in Afghanistan also increased dramatically during the same time period, from US $579 in July 2000 to $4564 in August 2001.
2001-02-26
http://www.stratfor.com/standard/analysis_view.php?ID=101474
First, the Taliban's financing came not only from opium but also from wealthy foreign backers. The drug trade is persecuted severely in both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, with the governments sentencing drug dealers to public beheadings. This could strongly bear on the Taliban's decision to ban opium. Ultimately, the Taliban introduced the opium ban because it has an alternative financing source: oil-rich Arab regimes and private Muslim financiers around the world who advocate fundamental Islamic values.
2002-02-06
http://www.stratfor.com/premium/analysis_view.php?ID=203082
[...]
Notable poppy growers from the past include Ahmed Shah Masood -- the former Northern Alliance commander who was assassinated just before the Sept. 11 attacks -- and current Pushtun strongman Hazrat Ali.
The new interim government itself is not free of drug-connected officials either. Recently appointed Kandahar governor Gul Agha, whose spokesman made the eradication announcement, has been linked to the opium trade, according to London's The Observer. His home province of Kandahar was one of the largest sources of poppies in Afghanistan during his earlier rule as governor in the early 1990s.
[...]
The new law allows that "medicinal amounts" of opium may be freely sold in quantities under two pounds, the Associated Press reported. An Afghan farmer working a small piece of land can only produce a few pounds of opium at a time, and a few acres of opium can bring up to five to eight times the price of traditional crops like wheat.
http://www.welt.de/daten/2001/11/01/1101pte292700.htx?search=opium+in+afghanistan
UN: Taliban kassierten vor den Militärschlägen 15 bis 27 Millionen Dollar Steuern von Opiumbauern
Peshawar - In Zeiten des Krieges können die USA nicht kleinlich sein bei der Wahl seiner Verbündeten: Washingtons Hauptpartner im Afghanistankrieg, die Nordallianz, liefert derzeit das reinste Opium auf dem Weltmarkt. Berühmt sind sie für ihr Opium, die Bergbauern von Badakhschan im Nordosten Afghanistans. In Badakhschan wurden die Mohnanbauflächen vervielfacht, und Bauern reiben sich die Hände, seit die Taliban im südlichen Afghanistan den Anbau von Mohn verboten haben, der Frucht für Opium und Heroin. Dieses Badakhschan nahe Tadschikistan liegt unter der Kontrolle der Nordallianz, der mit den USA verbündeten Altmudschahedin und Rebellenfront, die für die USA den Bodenkrieg bei Kabul und Mazar-i-Sharif austragen.
Die Taliban hatten jüngst Lob von höchster UN-Stelle erhalten, von UN-Generalsekretär Kofi Annan persönlich, der den Rückgang von Mohnanbaugebieten im Afghanistan der Taliban "äußerst beeindruckend" nannte. Tatsächlich wären mit dem Mohnanbauverbot der Taliban über 90 Prozent der Opiate aus Afghanistan im Weltmarkt verschwunden - wären, weil die Nordallianz ins Vakuum sprang und weil die Taliban nur den Anbau von Mohn verboten hatten, nicht aber den Besitz, den Transport und die Besteuerung von Opium.
Als der britische Premierminister Tony Blair jüngst meinte, dass 90 Prozent des Heroins auf britischen Straßen aus Afghanistan stammen, verschwieg er, dass hauptsächlich die Nordallianz den gefährlichen Stoff auf britische Straßen liefert. Und diese Nordallianz braucht man jetzt.
http://www.bushnews.com/drugs.htm
Bush has never used the sales of Afghan drugs in New York and other U.S. cities as a reason for attacking the Taliban, al-Qaida, and Bin Laden.
2001-11-30
http://www.stratfor.com/standard/analysis_view.php?ID=201223
[...] the change in who controls Afghanistan also means a shift in who controls the country's drug trade. The Northern Alliance is stepping up drug production in areas it holds [...]
According to Russian intelligence officers quoted by the BBC, traffickers in Tajikistan receive narcotics from areas under the control of the Northern Alliance. They then pass the drugs to Russian border guards, who in turn transfer them by air to Russia.
The Russian mafia is known to have well-established connections with organized crime throughout the world, including drug traffickers in the Balkans and South America. These connections have already helped bring Colombian cocaine to Russia in exchange for weapons and cash. Russian mafia connections with Colombian and Mexican drug cartels may now help bring Afghan heroin to the United States.
2001-10-07
http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,564934,00.html
"We act also because the al-Qaida network and the Taliban regime are funded in large part on the drugs trade. Ninety per cent of all heroin sold in Britain originates from Afghanistan. Stopping that trade is, again, directly in our interests."
http://www.dea.gov/pubs/pressrel/pr020502.html
The Administration budget also includes $17.4 million that was redirected from resources available to the DEA and are being requested to implement an Afghanistan initiative, Operation Containment, which will attack heroin trafficking organizations in Central Asia.
http://specials.ft.com/afghanfuture/FT394ETI9WC.html
[...] the oppressive Taliban regime was more effective at controlling the country's drugs trade than the new government in Kabul.
[...]
US and Afghan officials face the deadline of this year's [2002] poppy harvest in late March with no specific proposals of how to tackle the drugs trade. The new government in Kabul has yet to establish its preferred policies, while US forces have yet to gain control of the poppy-producing region.
One proposal is to buy back this year's poppy crops to help farmers pay off loans taken out to plant the crops last year. However the notion of paying for drugs is controversial and has little international support.
For the eradication of poppy crops to be successful, the US believes international powers need to support the Afghan government, particularly European countries which consume far more Afghan heroin than the US.
"This is not something where the US or any other country can conduct these programmes," said a state department official. "They are going to have to be conducted by the Afghan government and Afghan institutions. If they don't have the political will, the international community cannot control it."
http://www.unfoundation.org/unwire/util/display_stories.asp?objid=23138
The interim government yesterday in essence renewed a 2-year-old ban originally issued by the now-ousted Taliban regime. "All countrymen, especially peasants and farmers, are informed that from now on, the cultivation, manufacturing, processing, impermissible use, smuggle and trafficking of opium poppy and all of its derivatives is declared illegal," interim leader Hamid Karzai said in a decree.
2001-12-20
http://www.welt.de/daten/2001/12/20/1220fo303532.htx?search=opium+in+afghanistan
Denn als weltgrößter Opium-Produzent hat Afghanistan auf dem europäischen Markt einen erschreckend hohen Anteil von 95 Prozent. Im Vergleich dazu stammen nur 5 Prozent des in den USA konsumierten Opiums aus afghanischen Quellen.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/drugs/Story/0,2763,653590,00.html
The expectation is that the 2002 crop will be equivalent to the bumper one of three years ago, which yielded 4,600 tonnes of raw opium.
[...] "substantial regrowing has taken place in several provinces". A full report will be published next Wednesday. [2002-02-27]
The UN spokesman Kemal Kurspahic warned yesterday that unless there was urgent action to stop the crop being harvested at the end of March, then the "best ever opportunity" to suffocate the illegal trade would be lost.
Afghanistan is the source of 75% of the world's heroin and 90% of Britain's supply.
A ban on poppy growing in Afghanistan introduced by the Taliban in July 2000, coupled with severe droughts last year, reduced the country's opium yield by 91% in 2001, but this had negligible effect on the market in Europe because traders had significant stockpiles along their traditional supply routes. The UN estimates that these stockpiles will be exhausted by the end of this year.
[...] any attempt to control the trade would be resisted by local warlords.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/02/20020225-6.html
2002-02-23
[...]
Pursuant to section 591 of the FY 2002 FOAA, I hereby designate Afghanistan, Burma and Haiti as countries that failed demonstrably, during the previous 12 months, to adhere to their obligations under international counternarcotics agreements and to take the counter-narcotics measures set forth in section 489(a) (1) of the FAA. I have attached a justification for each of the countries so designated, as required by section 591.
Pursuant to section 591(3), I hereby also determine that provision of United States assistance to Afghanistan and Haiti in FY 2002 under the FY 2002 FOAA is vital to the national interests of the United States.
[...]
Resources:
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DEA
Department of Justice
Interpol
Stratfor
FAS
Guardian Unlimited
Financial Times
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Die Welt
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