Afghanistan Times
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Recently, Afghan security forces in an operation in Paktia province destroyed over 190,000kg hashish, 1,700kg of opium and 18kg of heroin. According to the provincial officials, the destroyed drugs have estimated at over 44 million US dollars. With no doubt, the destruction of drugs consider as a big blow for the insurgents and anti-government militants as they have been using profits from the illegal drugs to fund insurgency. Link between terrorism and narcotics is evident. Some reports suggest that annually world mafias earn $60-70 billion through narcotics.
However, the concerned organs are making indefatigable efforts in fight against narcotics, and if to be more realistic, it is difficult to deal with terrorism and drug mafias at one time. But still we have achieved a lot in this area. Previously, over 10,000kg of drug were torched in Badakhshan and Nangarhar provinces.
976kg opium, 121kg heroin, 19kg morphine, 68kg hashish, 500 liters of chemical precursors and 19 liters of alcoholic beverages were torched in Badakhshan, while four heroin process laboratories were destroyed in an operation conducted in eastern Nangarhar province.
Despite some achievements, still we have a long way to go and declare poppy-free state.
There are figuresshowing that some 4,800 tons of opium have been produced this year. And much of them were cultivated in areas controlled by the militants.
The drug cultivation is not surprising, because the deteriorating security situation had helped a lot the drug lords and international mafia to use the farmers and their lands in poppy cultivation.
Poppy cultivation is an element that has defamed Afghanistan besides the four-decade war. Unfortunately, Afghanistan is providing a large amount of narcotics in the world,in fact more than 80 percent of it. The plant cultivation vastly began in the 1990s and it became international concern during Taliban regime. The insurgent group also used it as a good financial rescues to fight Afghan and foreign forces and also to spend it in their administration affairs.
After the collapse of Taliban rule, the international community promised to be serious in fighting poppy cultivation, drug product and trade besides eliminating terrorisms. But, however, it has been for 15-year that no major breakthrough has taken place in this area.
The increase in number of addicts is another problem related to drug product. Over three million people are addicted to narcotics. We should stand unitedly against this menace as it kills our new generation.
Despite all frustration, the Afghan masses are totally in view that concerned officials would see this menace with open eyes and would accelerate efforts to destroy lands cultivate with poppy. We are taking the destruction of drugs, estimating millions of dollars as a glad tiding in fight against poppy.
