InfoAnda - Afghan drug cartels squeeze poppy farmers

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Correction: Forced labor conviction story | 16 October 2009
Chavez swearing-in can be delayed: Venezuelan VP | | 5 January 2013
Thaksin on a mission to humiliate Thai government | 7 November 2009

Facebook pitches new $20 million Sponsored Stories settlement | | 9 October 2012

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Afghan drug cartels squeeze poppy farmers

Yahoo! My Yahoo! Mail More Yahoo! Services Account Options New User? Sign Up Sign In Help Yahoo! Search web search Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Australia China India Indonesia Japan Malaysia Philippines Thailand Vietnam Afghan drug cartels squeeze poppy farmers AFP - 2 hours 7 minutes ago Send IM Story Print Afghan drug cartels squeeze poppy farmers Slideshow: Full Photo Coverage: War On Terror LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (AFP) - – Like farmers the world over Haji Afzal has locked in the price for his crop with a forward contract. Rather than a contract on the Chicago Board of Trade -- like an American wheat farmer or a Thai rice grower -- Afzal was paid 400,000 Pakistani rupees (5,000 dollars) by a middleman for the world's biggest drugs cartels. Afzal will harvest in a month, when the tall green weeds on his land have burst into scarlet bloom and the poppy bulbs ooze sap that will become opium. The cash ensured Afzal had all he needed for a good crop -- seed, water, fertiliser, tools -- supplied by the men who will process his opium into heroin and ship it across the world. But opium prices have fallen over the past year by about 30 percent, to less than 50 dollars a kilogramme, and Afzal worries officials will destroy his plants -- or demand bribes not to. He also worries his farm will be squeezed between the Afghan government with its Western military backers and Taliban militants who control poppy production in Helmand province, source of most of the world's opium. Azfal -- not his real name -- lives in Gereshk and is watching closely as US Marines lead efforts to assert government rule in Marjah, a farming district further south down the Helmand River. The area has for years been controlled by insurgents and drug traffickers who compel farmers to grow poppies, paying for the raw opium they produce or making life difficult if they do not. "We know the government has started a campaign to eradicate opium," said Azfal, referring to new plans to wipe out poppies. "Some people are worried, although we know they cannot extend their campaign to our district because there are Taliban who will resist and attack them. "But we are also worried about the military -- if the Marjah operation goes well, they may plan to extend their operation to other parts of Helmand," he said. -- Poppy farmers squeezed between drug cartels, corrupt officials -- Marjah is the target of a coordinated campaign to push out militants and drug dealers and establish government control with police and civil services. Operation Mushtarak ("together" in Dari and Pashto) is the test of a US-led counter-insurgency strategy focused on winning the confidence of local people with a level of security to keep the Taliban and drug lords from returning. It has not worked in the past because the Afghan government could not ensure a stable and accountable presence with officials immune to the temptations of corruption inherent in the three-billion-dollar-a-year drugs business. "Drug money is addictive, and is starting to trump ideology," said the head of the UN's Office on Drugs and Crime, Antonio Maria Costa, in a September report. Cooperation between the Taliban, drug smugglers and corrupt officials has turned areas such as Marjah into mafia fiefdoms. Militants provide the muscle to coerce farmers to grow poppy and protect the processing labs and smuggling routes through Pakistan to the east, Iran to the west or the former Soviet states to the north. The Taliban use religion and violence to bolster their power -- telling local people it is un-Islamic, for instance, to send their girls to school, and administering rough justice to ensure compliance. This "marriage of convenience" has turned Afghanistan into a narco-state comparable to Colombia, Costa said. Afghan opium funds crime gangs, insurgencies and terrorism in Afghanistan and elsewhere, his report said, adding "collusion with corrupt government officials is undermining public trust, security and the rule of law". -- Eradication efforts a failure -- In Lashkar Gah, a reconstruction team -- where British bureaucrats lead a multinational team of experts in such areas as governance, justice and counter-narcotics -- has distributed wheat seed to 40,000 Helmand farmers in an effort to provide alternatives to poppy, said deputy head Bridget Brind. "These sort of counter-narcotics initiatives reduce insurgent influence and increase government authority," she told reporters, adding that the fall in opium prices was matched by a wheat price rise, another reason to switch. But the figures don't quite match the rhetoric and UNODC has called eradication "a failure." In 2008-2009, only 10,000 hectares of opium, or less than four percent of land planted, were eradicated. Norine MacDonald, president of the International Council on Security and Development (ICOS), said: "If these calculations are accurate, it still leaves a staggering 1.4 million people involved in illegal poppy cultivation. "Despite good intentions and investment in alternative development programmes there is still no structural solution for these millions of Afghans," she told a US Senate hearing in October. UNODC found opium output down by 10 percent, to 6,900 tonnes in 2009, but said yield rose 15 percent because farmers extracted more opium per bulb. Production far outstripped annual world demand of 5,000 tonnes, it said. For farmers the world over the equation of over-supply and falling prices is simple and in Afghanistan cartels are hoarding, with stockpiles of opium estimated at 10,000 tonnes. That's two years supply of heroin for addicts, or three years of morphine for medical use, according to UNODC. -- Amid military campaign, smugglers look for other routes -- Nevertheless, the Afghan government this month announced eradication had begun anew in Helmand, Nangahar and Farah provinces, and will soon begin in Kandahar. Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Daud Daud said poppy cultivation had stopped in 21 of Afghanistans 34 provinces by 2009, but there was "minor" planting in 18 of those provinces this year, suggesting a re-emergence. He said he hoped the programme would see 25 provinces cleared of poppy by the end of this year. Interdiction had also failed, with only about two percent of the world's opium seized in Afghanistan, UN figures show. Sending in the military is having an impact, another expert said on condition of anonymity, comparing it to the short-lived but effective tactics of the Taliban's 1996-2001 regime. It will only work if the government can provide security along with alternatives, she said, "because there is so much money to be made". A Helmand smuggler said the Marjah campaign has shaken up kingpins, who are now looking for alternative routes. "Our main route for transporting drugs to neighbouring districts, provinces and countries was Marjah," he said, giving his name as Haji Abdul Qudos. As he had already advanced 10 million rupees to farmers, he would be looking for other ways to get the drugs out, not ways to get out of drugs. "We will find alternative routes or even use Marjah roads, but (the military campaign and presence of police) mean it is more difficult now, with the danger that our opium is sometimes confiscated by international forces," he said. "At the moment no one's farms have been eradicated but there is the concern that they might be." Recommend Send IM Story Print Related Articles Activist charged over sat phone can leave India AP - 24 minutes ago Bomb kills 2, wounds 12 in southwest Pakistan AP - 27 minutes ago China to respond if hit by U.S. trade sanctions - MOFCOM Reuters - 27 minutes ago Taliban kill 4 they say were US spies in Pakistan AP - 53 minutes ago Thai political deadlock ahead of new blood protest AFP - 53 minutes ago News Search Top Stories Fish and chips celebrates 150 years as a British classic GM Daewoo recalls 58,000 vehicles in S.Korea: government British Airways strike bites but passengers fly Anti-war protesters take to streets, defy US indifference Top climate officials urge progress at Mexico summit More Top Stories » ADVERTISEMENT Most Popular Most Viewed Most Recommended 'Red Shirts' take to streets to win over Thai capital Hollywood stars help prevent suicide after Twitter alert McLaren launches new supercar British boy receives pioneering stem cell surgery US tanker bid war heats up with Airbus, Russia in wings More Most Viewed » Chile quake moved Earth's axis, shortened days: scientist Experts confirm asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs 'Britain's Fritzl' raped daughters for over 25yrs Researchers back cancer-fighting properties of papaya Common weed-killer chemically castrates frogs: study More Most Recommended » Elsewhere on Yahoo! Financial news on Yahoo! Finance Stars and latest movies Best travel destinations More on Yahoo! News Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Subscribe to our news feeds Top StoriesMy Yahoo!RSS » More news feeds | What are news feeds? Also on Yahoo Answers Groups Mail Messenger Mobile Travel Finance Movies Sports Games » All Yahoo! Services Site Highlights Singapore Full Coverage Most Popular Asia Entertainment Photos World Cup 2010 Copyright © 2010 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte. Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved. Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Community | Intellectual Property Rights Policy | Help

Other News on Sunday, 21 March 2010
Afghanistan says Taliban arrests had 'negative impact'
British Airways strike grounds flights but passengers fly
Israeli troops kill Palestinian in West Bank: medics
Russian 'Day of Anger' rallies tests Putin's rule
Magnitude-5.6 quake near Guantanamo, Cuba |
Allawi leads Iraq PM in vote count: results
UN chief backs Palestinian state in visit to West Bank
Iran president suggests referendum on subsidy cuts |
ACORN On Verge Of Bankruptcy; 50% Of State Chapters Disband
Thai political deadlock after red street parade
Taliban adjust, wage bomb attacks in Afghan town
Huge sandstorm covers Beijing, turns sky orange
Underdog Japan hoping to suprise US in hockey final
Strong quake hits off Papua New Guinea: geologists
Sandstorms blanket Beijing in yellow dust
Sharks on the menu at wildlife trade meet
One dead, six hurt in Philippines clashes: security forces
Myanmar state paper blasts election law critics
Thai opposition leaders demand talks with PM
Chinese media hits out at Google, alleges intelligence links
Music biz insiders say Sony-Jackson deal makes sense |
Ellen, Web site give gay teen $30,000 in prom flap |
Couch potatoes: New York plants go to the movies
Afghan drug cartels squeeze poppy farmers
Fish and chips celebrates 150 years as a British classic
Thai protest talks scheduled; resolution unlikely |
"Red Steel 2" videogame an homage to spaghetti westerns
U.N.'s Ban in West Bank pushes for peace talks
UN chief backs Palestinian state on Mideast mission
British polls point to hung parliament
Madagascar connected to EASSy fiber optic cable
Colombian journalist shot and killed |
Moscow fire chief killed in blaze
China to respond if hit by U.S. trade sanctions: MOFCOM |
Huge pro-Berlusconi rally in Rome
GM Daewoo recalls 58,000 vehicles in S.Korea: government
Germany okay with bilateral EU aid to Greece: minister
Suspected explosive found on plane in India: police |
Sarkozy faces heavy defeat in French regional poll |
Tadic absent as Balkan leaders meet on EU integration
No evidence of mine collapse in Sierra Leone town |
Australia's Rudd loses support in state elections |
Midair Plane Collision Leaves Three Dead
Anti-war protesters take to streets, defy US indifference
US House to vote on Obama's historic health plan
Top climate officials urge progress at Mexico summit
Fargo calm, confident as Red River completes rise
Researchers: Acne Drug Found To Be Effective In HIV Treatment
Fox Denies "Glee" Stage Adaptation
Thousands rally to pull troops from 2 war zones
Rosie O'Donnell Signs Talk Show Deal For 2011
U.S. Democrats say they have votes to pass healthcare
"Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" To Include Paris Hilton's Aunts
GM Daewoo to recall 58,000 vehicles in S.Korea: government
China may report trade deficit in March: minister
Bangladesh too cheap for comfort for some brands
S.Korea sees March trade surplus bigger than Feb
China says trade deficit likely in March
Japan planning 14 nuclear plants: report
GM S.Korea unit recalls 60,000 Cruze, Captiva models
US currency battle with China underscores global concerns
Thousands bid farewell to former Nepal PM Koirala
S.Korea Feb business start/failure rate at 7-mo high
Japan local vote plan for foreigners triggers backlash
Two Thai blasts after huge anti-govt parade: police
Philippines hunts Indonesian training militants
Nearly 100 kgs ivory seized in Vietnam: report
Thai protest talks scheduled; resolution unlikely
Pakistan kidnappers 'threatened to chop up UK boy'
Watermelon Jam Causes New Zealand Motorway To Close
Swarm Of Bees Attack 3, Critically Injures 2 Women
Woman Sees Virgin Mary At Door
Phone Call To Mom Brings Drug Trafficking Charge For Inmate
Drunk Man Fined For Exposing Himself To Female Officer
Weather forecast for the Asia-Pacific region
Australia's Rudd loses support in state elections
Indonesians protest Israel settlements
Sarkozy facing rebuke as France votes
Netanyahu stands firm on Jerusalem before U.S. visit |
China state media accuses Google of political agenda
Darfur donor meeting eyeing $2 billion opens in Cairo
Sarkozy faces heavy defeat in French regional poll |
Israeli troops kill two Palestinians in West Bank
No Israeli concessions on Jerusalem: Netanyahu
U.N.'s Ban in Gaza, calls on Israel to end closures |
UN chief slams Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip
U.S. actions contrary to desire for better ties: Iran |
Second Palestinian youth dies after shot in West Bank
Medical Examiner Confirms Two More Suspected Suicides At Cornell University
UN chief urges Israel to lift Gaza blockade
Volcano erupts in Iceland, hundreds flee |
Iraq PM Maliki calls for vote recount: statement
Virginia Executes Convicted Murderer By Electric Chair
Lawyer For Teacher Who Let Cats Starve To Death Says It Wasn't Intended
Afghans celebrate new year with hopes for peace
Vatican must take abuse more seriously: Swiss abbot |
UN chief crosses into Gaza for talks
Fifteen States Sue EPA Over Greenhouse Gas Decision
UK parties battle over economy as election nears |
NJ Police Aided By Social Media Arrest Teen In Wal-Mart Bias Case
Iraq's Maliki asks for recount, warns of violence |
Afghan VP voices hope for peace as bombs kill 12
Explosives found aboard India plane
China vows to hit back if targeted by U.S. on yuan
Former Interior Secretary Udall dies at age 90
Kenyan runners sweep Taipei marathon
Taiwan's president to visit 6 Pacific nations
China warns US against yuan sanctions
China state media accuses Google of political agenda |
Explosions rock Afghan New Year, kill 2 civilians
Activist charged over sat phone can leave India
Chinese media say Google is politicizing dispute
GM's SKorean unit recalling nearly 60,000 vehicles
China to begin trial of 4 Rio Tinto employees
India faces more rate hikes: analysts
Tang premieres new film after reported China ban
Ang Lee protege Tang returns to red carpet
US gun rights advocates pack heat with pride
Paris retrospective for fashion genius Saint Laurent
Lebanon's liquid treasure is just trickling away
Haiti's cultural heritage faces quake extinction
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph	VPN on MacOSX	BlogMeter 1.01