SOLDIERS SET TO TARGET NARCOTICS OPERATIONS

KABUL - The product is hidden in transport trucks, hauled on the back
of donkeys and finally spirited through villages that straddle
Afghanistan's northern border.

Being part of the world's largest heroin industry certainly has its
benefits but the work, says one Afghan drug smuggler, is no walk in
the park.

To move narcotics from Afghanistan's Pashtun belt -- where Canadian
troops operate -- to Tajikistan, smugglers risk arrest by the police,
theft at the hands of other criminals, or worse, says the Kabul-based
courier, who asked not to be named.

"First, you sign your death certificate, then you start working," the
smuggler said in a recent interview, as he nervously chain smoked.
"People are hungry. They will kill you if they know you carry a big
amount of money."

Such traffickers may soon have another danger to worry about, too. A
new NATO policy would see troops from Canada and other countries play
a bigger role in combating Afghanistan's massive heroin trade,
effectively ending the alliance's standoff approach to the issue.

The idea is that NATO soldiers would go after narcotics operations
when there is some indication they are tied to the insurgency.

A graphic illustration of that link came earlier this week in the
south of Kandahar province. U.S. and Afghan troops were searching an
area known for its insurgent activity when they stumbled on a drug
factory and almost 40 tonnes of hashish.

Last month, American police charged a Kandahar-based man with
conspiracy to traffic drugs to support terrorism, alleging that he had
financed the Taliban.

"The government of Afghanistan has been saying for the last two years
that NATO has to be involved in (drug) operations on the ground," said
Zalmai Aszali, a spokesman for Afghanistan's Ministry of
Counter-narcotics.

"The bullet coming out of the barrel of the AK-47 of the insurgents is
being financed by drug traffickers."

Much has been made lately of the reduced poppy harvest this year, but
Afghanistan still produces more than 90 per cent of the world's heroin
and NATO estimates that $50 million to $200 million of the proceeds
flow to the insurgents annually. Millions more feed the corruption
that eats away at the weak Afghan government.

Although the Americans and British are independently involved in the
drug war, the alliance as a whole has shied away from it, with members
at odds over thorny issues like poppy eradication.

But they agreed last month to begin more aggressively combating drug
smugglers and factories -- although not farmers -- if a link to the
insurgency is shown.

Aszali said the government would like Canadian and other international
troops to attack the fast-moving drug convoys, which often use
late-model SUVs that can outrun the police.

Protection for the anti-narcotics police as they crack down on heroin
operations would also be appreciated, since more than 70 of them have
died in clashes with the heavily-armed cartels, he said. Also,
satellite and other technology used by NATO could aid in uncovering
the secret routes smugglers use to get drugs out of Afghanistan and
pre-cursor chemicals in, said the official.