UN HORRIFIED BY SURGE IN OPIUM TRADE IN HELMAND

Despite 7,000 UK Troops, Taliban-Backed Production Up 48%

Britain's drug policy in Afghanistan's Helmand province lay in
tatters yesterday as the UN declared a "frightening" explosion in
opium production across the country, led by Taliban-backed farmers in
the volatile south. Opium production soared by 34% to 8,200 tonnes,
accounting for 93% of world supply and most of the heroin sold in
Britain and Europe, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime reported.

The record crop was fuelled by Helmand, where, despite the deployment
of 7,000 British soldiers and millions of pounds in development
spending, opium cultivation surged by 48%.

The sprawling and violent province is now the world's single largest
source of illegal drugs - greater than coca from Colombia, cannabis
from Morocco or heroin from Burma, countries with populations up to
20 times greater.

A despondent UNODC noted that no other country has produced illegal
narcotics on such a scale since China in the 19th century. "The
situation is dramatic and getting worse by the day," said its
director general, Antonio Maria Costa.

The sole bright spot was a sharp fall in poppy cultivation in the
north, where the number of drug-free provinces doubled from six to
13. Balkh province, which produced 7,200 tonnes last year, eliminated
poppy cultivation entirely. The disparity highlights a widening gap
between relatively stable northern Afghanistan, where the Kabul
government enjoys some authority, and the insurgency-racked south,
where it has virtually none.

Favourable weather, Taliban insurgents and corrupt government
officials all contributed to this year's record poppy haul, which has
edged Afghanistan perilously close to becoming a full narco-state.
The opium trade involves 3.3 million of Afghanistan's 23 million
population, according to the UNODC, and accounts for more than half
of its estimated $7.5bn (UKP3.7bn) gross domestic product.

Western countries, led by the US, have spent several billion pounds
trying to eradicate the trade since 2001. But it has only grown
stronger, and this year's dismal results are likely to revive a
controversial debate on aerial crop spraying that pits America against the UK.

The US ambassador, William Wood, who was previously posted to
Colombia, advocates dispatching squadrons of pesticide-filled crop
duster planes to spray the poppy fields. Ground-based eradication
destroyed 19,000 hectares this year, or one tenth of the total crop.
But British and Afghan officials are trenchantly opposed to aerial
spraying, arguing that it would only anger Afghan farmers and drive
their families into the arms of the Taliban.

The Taliban have firmly entrenched themselves in the trade. Having
vehemently opposed opium as "un-Islamic" in 2000, when the crop was
virtually eliminated, the insurgents are now among its greatest
champions. In Helmand, Taliban fighters protect poppy-growing farmers
in exchange for a slice of their profits, and some commanders help to
smuggle drugs. Their profits pay for arms, logistics and militia
wages, the UN said.

Embarrassingly for the British, the Taliban have also linked poppy
growing with military strategy. The town of Musa Qala, which the
British military ceded to Taliban control last February, has become a
major drugs hub. Opium is traded openly in the town bazaar and heroin
processing labs have moved to the area.

The drug barons run little risk of being caught. No major smuggler
has been arrested in Afghanistan since 2001. Yesterday Mr Costa urged
President Hamid Karzai to submit a dozen major traffickers - whom he
did not name - to the UN Security Council for inclusion on a Taliban
sanctions list.

Frustrated western anti-narcotics specialists are also searching for
fresh ideas that work. A senior British official said the UK will
spend UKP10m on development projects in Helmand and contribute to a
UKP13m "good performance" fund that rewards drug-free provinces.

Nato may also take a more aggressive role. Although western soldiers
will not slash through fields of poppy - something British soldiers
have always avoided - their commanders may start to target insurgents
who double as drug smugglers. "There will be an overlap between
counter-narcotics and counter-insurgency targets. We want people who
are big in the insurgency and drugs to realise they don't enjoy
impunity," said the British official.

But, he admitted, there was no silver bullet to kill the trade: "I
expect it will be a long time before this problem is solved."