Sunday, August 09, 2009

U.S. Military in Afghanistan puts narcotics traffickers on kill or capture list

The U.S. military in Afghanistan is circulating to its commanders the names of fifty persons who are alleged to be drug traffickers sharing profits with the Taliban or al Qaeda, adding them to a list of those to be killed or captured, The New York Times reports. There are 367 persons reported to be on the list. This is a dramatic expansion of the U.S. military mission to challenge those who fund the Taliban from the production of opium poppies and heroin.

The U.S. is also changing its strategy regarding the cultivation of the poppies. Heretofore, the U.S. has sought to eradicate poppy cultivation. A new policy is being unveiled to provide development aid to encourage farmers to shift to alternative crops.

Such approaches have not had much success in South America. But those efforts were not nations in which the U.S. was fighting a war such as it is fighting in Afghanistan. The stakes for the U.S. are much higher and more direct. The troops in direct combat with U.S. armed forces in Afghanistan are believed to be paid and armed with the proceeds of opium and heroin sales.

Afghani opium and the heroin that is refined from such opium is not believed to be shipped to the U.S.

Sphere: Related Content

1 comment:

daksya said...

Afghani opium and the heroin that is refined from such opium is not believed to be shipped to the U.S.

According to this book,
The estimates of production, seizures, and regional consumption in Latin America show exports much lower than estimates of U.S. consumption and seizures for the years 2001 and 2002. Thus, it is likely that the United States imports a substantial share of its heroin from Asia, contrary to official statements.

Here's a chart from the book.