The Taliban -- Narco Criminals And The Number One Supplier Of The World's Opium

(Photo from No Captioned Needed)

Is the Taliban Stockpiling Opium? And If So, Why?
-- Time Magazine

If international drug- and law-enforcement officials are right, the Taliban might be hiding up to $3.2 billion worth of opium inside Afghanistan, potentially causing huge complications for NATO's decision this month to attack Afghanistan's opium laboratories and smuggling networks. If it exists, the drug stockpile would also have a major bearing on Afghan officials' tentative peace talks with the Taliban, which are favored by U.S. Central Command chief General David Petraeus and both U.S. presidential candidates.

According to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, between 6,000 and 8,000 tons of opium have vanished during the past three years somewhere between the poppy fields of Afghanistan — which produce about 93% of the world's opium — and the world market. That's enough to supply all the world's heroin addicts for nearly two years. The whereabouts of the missing opium is a mystery so far, but international drug- and law-enforcement agencies say they believe the Taliban has begun to stockpile large quantities of the drug, which is worth about $464,000 per ton once it is exported from Afghanistan. When British forces recently occupied Musikalia in Helmand province, they uncovered a stockpile of 45 tons of opium. But that's a tiny fraction of what has disappeared. "Where is it? We have been asking," says Antonio Maria Costa, head of the U.N. drug office. He recently appealed to NATO forces and Western intelligence officers to launch an aggressive hunt for the opium.

Read more ....

My Comment: The Taliban .... like the FARC in Colombia .... are rapidly evolving into a narco criminal organization. Like the warlords that have ruled Afghanistan for decades, the Taliban are now realizing the political and economic advantages of being players in this enterprise. The monies from opium provide the Taliban weapons, soldiers, and the ability to bribe opponents. Will they give this up advantage .... I do not think so.