THE COVERT BIOWAR AGAINST DRUGS IN CENTRAL ASIA

Tashkent (TCA). Uzbekistan is the epicenter of American, British and
UN-funded secret research that could destroy not only illicit
drug-producing plants but also many of the world's cereal crops.

In February 1998, the UNDCP signed a three and a half year contract
with the Tashkent Institute of Genetics, Plants and Experimental
Biology to develop a "reliable biological control agent" to destroy
opium poppies.

The opium fungus Pleospora Papaveracea was field-tested with complete success.

The fungus does not affect any of one hundred thirty closely related
plant species.

Field tests are to be conducted on small plots over the next three
years, after which scientists estimate that the fungus will be ready
for use. US scientists, however, have concluded that the toxins
possess "broad genetic variability" that could lead to mutant strains
devastating adjacent crops.

American interest in using biological weapons against drug
cultivation dates back to the Nixon administration, which in 1971
asked Congress to fund research into insect species that would devour
opium crops.

Today, the social cost of illicit drugs in the US is estimated at $70
billion and 14,000 deaths annually.

The "drug war" has become a high-profile "politically correct" issue
for politicians of all parties.

The USSR also approached the United Nations International Drug
Control Program (UNDCP) with proposals to develop more effective and
environmentally benign biological agents for use against opium
poppies and marijuana.

An expert group working for the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs also
suggested the use of biological agents to eliminate
narcotic-producing plants.

Uzbekistan is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention. In April 1998,
Uzbekistan signed a counter-narcotics cooperation agreement with the
United States. Uzbekistan is also a member of the Economic
Cooperation Organization that features drug control coordination
supported by the UNDCP. There are currently three UNDCP projects
operating in Uzbekistan. One provides support to the Tashkent
Institute of Genetics, Plants and Experimental Biology to create an
effective pathogen specific to opium poppies.

The US has also provided training in drug forensics at Drug
Enforcement Agency headquarters to two Uzbek laboratory technicians.

Uzbekistan's highly significant holdings of unique fungal, bacterial
and viral strains are of potential considerable commercial value to
Western biopharmaceutical companies.

In 1998, Uzbekistan's annual "Operation Black Poppy" operation
destroyed only 2.9 hectares of poppies, since the government has all
but eliminated opium poppy cultivation in Uzbekistan. Under American
and British influence, Uzbekistan has become more and more deeply
enmeshed in the region as the West's surrogate partner in the war
against drugs.

In 1998 it is conservatively estimated that 1,670 metric tons of
opium were produced in Afghanistan. As a further incentive to
pressure Uzbekistan to cooperate with the United Nations, there is
evidence that heroin labs are being located close to the borders of
some Central Asian countries.

There is some question as to whether the use of Pleospora Papaveracea
would contravene the United Nations' Biological and Toxic Weapons
Convention (BTWC). Because of the active participation of Uzbekistan
in the culturing and use of the agent within its own borders, many
conclude that the BTWC would probably not apply.

Some UN officials fear, however, that if used, the mycotoxins could
lead to charges of biological warfare by the fundamentalist regimes
in Afghanistan and Iran. The issue could be exploited to win wider
support in the Islamic world.

The foreign implications of the development of this biological agent
are troubling. The United States has no domestic cultivation of
poppies to eradicate. Thus, the development of the agent is for
foreign use and might be seen by its intended clients as a biowar
agent.

The top foreign producers of opium poppies are Burma and Afghanistan
where more than 90% of the world's illicit opiates originate.

As neither state has a close relationship with the US, security and
political concerns impelled the research to continue in Uzbekistan.

There are substantial security concerns about the release of such an
agent into a politically hostile environment. Terrorists or rogue
states could arm themselves with biological agents that could be used
against Western food stocks. World population growth places an
immense strain on food supplies, making crops a tempting target.

Confidential UN documents show its experts are worried that once
spread on poppy fields the fungus Pleospora Papaveracea might be
difficult to contain. There are also worries that it might mutate in
forms that could be used by terrorists or traffickers themselves. The
Anglo-American secret project is a direct threat to the financial
prosperity of some of the most powerful and ruthless criminals in the
world.

Drug cartels threatened with the loss of their livelihood could
themselves acquire the technology and use a form of agricultural
terrorism in revenge attacks against the Western developers of the
pathogens.

Loyal American client states have balked at participation in the program.

In January 2000, the UNDCP acknowledged that both Turkmenistan and
Kazakhstan refused to carry out field tests of the fungus.

In addition to Uzbekistan, both Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have been
urged to participate in field trials.

Work continues at an accelerated pace driven by visions of imminent success.

A confidential UN research report states: "Production capacity to
treat approximately 2,000 hectares of illicit opium poppy crop
currently in cultivation in the sub-region Central Asia could be
established relatively easily, and at modest cost." What the report
fails to address is the ultimate cost to the environment and humanity
if the scientists and politico-drug warriors are wrong.