Daily Times

KARACHI: United States of America should ‘do more’ rather keep asking Pakistan to ‘do more’ without any wisdom and having no knowledge of ground realities in Pakistan’s huge human lives and economic sacrifices against war on terror.

US is very well aware about the production, trafficking routes, stakeholders involved in trade and production and use of heroin and narcotics in areas, but all efforts of the ‘World’s Policeman’ had been failed as cultivation in Afghanistan has been on increasing under the very nose of NATO and American Forces.

It is startling that as Afghanistan is the main producer of opium in the world and after US entry and occupation-2001 of this country, the production remained on the rise.

President Trump on more than one occasion had reiterated for immediate action against drugs traffickers, producers and stakeholders in parts of the world including Afghanistan, Columbia, Myanmar and Latin American countries.

The USA has not been able to curb this menace, which is being used for destruction by Afghanistan Latin American countries and Columbia.

This amounts to an export value of more than $5 billion, with a quarter being earned by opium farmers and the rest going to district officials, insurgents, warlords and drug traffickers.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has already said that area used to farm poppy plants has increased by 12 percent to 221,000 hectares.

Despite US investment of more than $8.5 billion to help counter the illicit narcotics economy, which produces an estimated 80 percent of the world’s heroin, US government remained unsuccessful to stop this menace.

UNODC said the figures were worrying and its report said potential opium production was up 45 percent, reaching 5,400 tonnes in 2017.

The illicit economy has been fueling insecurity, violence and insurgency in several countries besides discouraging economic journey in Afghanistan and other countries.

Moreover, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction had also admitted in its report that narcotics trade has been undermining governance and rule of law throughout Afghanistan.

It is believed that stakeholders involved are Afghan, political figures, NATO, US forces and locals in Afghanistan.

The major routes are Europe, USA, South Africa, Columbia, Mexico and Brazil. Demand is catered through ship and air on consignments in name of forces.

Route change includes central Asia, India route on improved relations, storage for onwards shift, cultivation areas in Afghan-Botham, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore Islands of Malaysia. Cargo ships are used.

“Now it is time for USA to ponder and ‘do more’ to end this silent menace which has been destroying world peace and peoples’ health and beyond this illicit money is being used in terrorism in several states.”

The traffickers provide weapons, funding and material support to insurgency in exchange for protection, while insurgent leaders traffic drugs to finance their operations.

The commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, had already revealed that opium trade provides about 60 percent of funding for Taliban insurgency.

Can USA also bother on Colombia which is once again the world’s largest producer of cocaine and every year more than 81 percent of cocaine is entered in USA.

Between 2013 and 2016, coca cultivation in Colombia increased by more than 130 percent, from 80,500 hectares to 188,000 hectares.

Pure potential cocaine production surged by more than 200 percent in same time period, from 239 metric tonnes in 2013 to 738 metric tonnes in 2016. Cocaine use and overdose deaths in United States are on the rise.

Published in Daily Times, January 10^th 2018.