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AFP
Afghanistan's opium production will increase by nearly 50 percent this year to a record 6,100 tonnes after an "alarming" jump in cultivation in the lawless south, the UN drugs office announced.
The area of land planted with opium -- of which Afghanistan produces more than 90 percent of world supply -- rose 59 percent this year as compared to last year, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said.
The sharp increase in the number of acres planted would lead to a likely harvest of 6,100 tonnes -- a 49 percent hike over the 4,100 tonnes produced the year before.
"This year's harvest will be around 6,100 tonnes of opium -- a staggering 92 percent of total world supply. It exceeds global consumption by 30 percent," UNODC global executive director Antonio Maria Costa said in Kabul.
The Western media in chorus blame the Taliban and the warlords. The Bush administration is said to be committed to curbing the Afghan drug trade: "The US is the main backer of a huge drive to rid Afghanistan of opium... "
Yet in a bitter irony, US military presence has served to restore rather than eradicate the drug trade.
What the reports fail to acknowledge is that the Taliban government was instrumental in implementing a successful drug eradication program, with the support and collaboration of the UN.
Implemented in 2000-2001, the Taliban's drug eradication program led to a 94 percent decline in opium cultivation. In 2001, according to UN figures, opium production had fallen to 185 tons. Immediately following the October 2001 US led invasion, production increased dramatically, regaining its historical levels.
Table 1
Opium Poppy Cultivation in Afghanistan
Year3800....................Cultivation in hectares..............Production (tons)
1994.................................71,470................................. 3,400
1995.................................53,759................................. 2,300
1996.................................56,824................................. 2,200
1997.................................58,416................................. 2,800
1998.................................63,674................................. 2,700
1999.................................90,983................................. 4,600
2000.................................82,172................................. 3,300
2001.................................7,606 ................................. 185
2002.................................74,000................................. 3400
2003.................................80,000................................. 3600
2004............................... 131,000 ................................. 4200
2005...............................104,000..............................3800
2006............................... 165,000** ...................... 6100**
Source: United Nations,
www.unodc.org...
Originally posted by jaamaan
i believe the increase is much more than 50%
Originally posted by Souljah
I mean - we all know who are the LORDS of Drug Trafficking, don't we?
Originally posted by shots
Gees this makes two threads in one day that you title one thing and immediately start to blame it on the US or British.
One can only assume you missed the news reports showing US and AFGAN forces trying to destroy some of the crops and that is a shame.
Originally posted by jsobecky
Seriously, Souljah, get a life. Talk about something else once in a while. Like the human trafficking explosion in Slovenia.
You have voted jsobecky for the Way Above Top Secret award. You have two more votes this month.
Drug trafficking meanwhile remains the most wide-spread form of organised crime in the EU.
See link above
DUSAN KEBER, Minister of Health of Slovenia, said Slovenia lay on the
well-known Balkan heroin route. On that route, heroin traveled to northern Europe and synthetic drugs flowed in the opposite direction. Source