As U.S. draws down, Afghan opium production thrives

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MARJAH, Afghanistan (AP) — Pink-and-white poppy blooms
stretch toward the horizon in this field in southern Afghanistan as
laborers slice open the green bulbs swollen with raw opium, the main
ingredient in heroin.
The opium from Marjah, a district in
southern Helmand province, likely will make its way to drug addicts in
the region and the world. Helmand’s harvest this year is expected to be
one of the largest ever, mirroring trends in the rest of Afghanistan.
This
year’s bumper crop, after the U.S. has spent $7.5 billion trying to
eradicate opium in Afghanistan, represents one of the most tangible and
visible failures as the American-led military force prepares to withdraw
by the end of this year. And with Afghanistan’s emerging anti-narcotics
forces vastly outnumbered both by Taliban brokers and corrupt officials
involved in the trade, the opium trade likely will only grow.
"Poppy
is like a virus that is already embedded in a sick body," said Ashita
Mittal, acting country director for the United Nations Office on Drugs
and Crime in Kabul. "It is going to impact the whole economy of this
country. We do believe that in the absence of the growth of the licit
economy, the illicit economy will take over."
Last year, 209,000
hectares (806 square miles) of poppy were planted across Afghanistan, up
36 percent over the year before and producing an estimated 5,500 metric
tons (6,062 tons) of opium, according to the U.N. drug agency. By
comparison, only a little over 7,000 hectares (27 square miles) of poppy
field were eradicated.
The 2014 harvest is expected to match or
even exceed last year’s record. In coming years, opium will grab an even
larger share of Afghanistan’s already troubled economy, as money from
U.S. military contracts and aid work dries up. The U.N. estimates that
some 200,000 families in Afghanistan are involved in opium production
already and that the country has some 1 million addicts.
As a
share of Afghanistan’s economy, opium looms large: The U.N. estimates
the potential gross value of Afghan opiates last year was around $3
billion — equal to 15 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
Throughout
the U.S.-led mission in Afghanistan, it has worked with Afghan forces
to try to eradicate opium — a major source of funding for the Taliban
insurgency. At first, that meant hacking down and burning fields, though
later troops sought to persuade farmers to plant alternative crops.
A
report to U.S. Congress this week by the Special Inspector General for
Afghanistan Reconstruction said Washington has spent $7.5 billion on the
effort. For a few years, opium production dropped, but as the NATO
withdrawal looms, more farmers are turning back to poppies.
For
Marjah farmer Mohammad Ayub, the choice is easy. Opium poppies are
easier to grow than other crops, they are
easy to convert into quick
cash and far more profitable. He says he can earn 80,000 Afghanis
($7,000) growing poppies for opium on his land, while he can barely
break even planting cotton.
"Opium has a good income, and that is
why people are cultivating it with all its problems," Ayub said. "We are
not scared from the government, because most of the officials have
their share in the harvesting."
In Marjah, the resurgence of opium
is particularly striking because the Helmand district was touted in
2009 as a showcase of the U.S. military’s "surge" strategy of driving
Taliban from the area. At the time, the American coalition flew
journalists to newly liberated Marjah to see efforts to convert poppy
fields to wheat, grapes and other crops and install a clean, competent
local administration, memorably described at the time as a "government
in a box."
In 2009, opium cultivation in Helmand — by far
Afghanistan’s largest producer — dropped by 33 percent to about 70,000
hectares (270 square miles). It continued to fall before ticking back up
in 2012. Last year, though, poppy cultivation surged to more than
100,000 hectares (386 square miles), almost the same level as before the
big U.S. push into Helmand.
The Taliban have not regained the
same level of dominance they once had in Marjah, but they are active
enough to make the area too insecure for many government activities,
including poppy eradication.
In an interview with The Associated
Press, Helmand Gov. Mohammad Naeem blamed the rise of opium cultivation
on a resurgent Taliban.
"In the areas under the control of the
government the cultivation has decreased dramatically, but in areas
where there are Taliban the cultivation still exists because the Taliban
are persuading people to get more money," Naeem said.
The governor also said there is resistance from local people in eradicating opium because they are
dependent on its income.
While
government officials generally blame the Taliban for opium production,
poppy fields can be found all over the country, even in areas where the
government has full control. Mittal, the U.N. official, concedes the
current level of production would not be possible without corruption and
collusion at all levels of government.
"It is not exactly an invisible crop," she said.
After
most international forces are gone, Afghanistan’s government will face
an uphill battle in stemming the resurgent opium economy — especially
since so many influential Afghans are profiting from the trade.
"What will be the most important thing is the political will," Mittal said.
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Johnson reported from Kabul, Afghanistan.
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Follow Kay Johnson on Twitter at www.twitter.com/kayatap .
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