MERCHANTS OF DEATH STILL IN BUSINESS

For hundreds of years "merchants of death" have been sending thousands of
youth and others down a dead-end road in life.

Drug trafficking has been a source of concern at the international level
but, unfortunately, there has never been close cooperation among countries
to stop drug trafficking. Some international organizations actually spend
more time and effort documenting the volume of drugs produced than
mobilizing countries against this global scourge.

The world should initiate a comprehensive campaign against illegal drug
trafficking instead of leaving the heavy burden to countries like Iran.

Afghanistan's new interim government promised on January 31 to wage total
war on drugs, saying brigades of tractors would soon plough up opium poppy
fields and destroy the source of two-thirds of the world's heroin supply.
Now that the Taleban have been removed from power, there should be no
excuses or delay in cracking down on drugs, and the Afghan interim
government should leave no stone unturned in its fight against poppy
cultivation and illegal drug trafficking. Officials in Kabul should also
seek help from international forces based in Afghanistan and other
countries and international organizations to root out all traces of poppy
cultivation.

The international community should realize that the scourge of drug
trafficking, or rather "death trafficking," should not be considered to be
less important than "terrorism."

Being a neighbor of Afghanistan, Iran has been a victim of the drug trade
and it has been at the forefront of a bloody campaign against drug
trafficking which has cost Iran thousands of lives and great financial
losses. It should be noted that most of the drugs are transited through
Iran to European and North American markets.

On July 28, 2000, the now-toppled Taleban leader issued a decree ordering a
ban on poppy cultivation. Farmers and the United Nations Drug Control
Program (UNDCP) were able to verify that thousands of hectares of land were
poppy-free in February 2001. At the time some analysts cast doubts over the
effectiveness of the ban, saying that the decline in opium production was
largely due to the drought in the landlocked Central Asian state.

Since 1999, Afghanistan has produced approximately 75 percent of the
world's opium, cultivated on 91,000 hectares in 1999 and 82,000 hectares in
2000. After the Taleban banned opium poppy cultivation, a survey team led
by the UNDCP regional office in Islamabad visited 80 percent of the known
poppy growing areas in the 51 districts known to have produced 86 percent
of the year 2000's crop. The team found less than 30 hectares of poppies
which were later eradicated.

Laboratories in Afghanistan convert opium into morphine base, white heroin,
or one of three grades of brown heroin, depending on the order received.
Large processing labs are located in southern Afghanistan. Smaller
laboratories are located in other areas of Afghanistan, including Nangarhar
Province.

In the past, many opium processing laboratories were located in Pakistan,
particularly in the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP). These laboratories
appear to have relocated to Afghanistan, both to be closer to the source of
opium and to avoid law enforcement actions by the government of Pakistan.
Laboratories in Afghanistan produce heroin for the world market. Chemists
in the region are capable of producing heroin hydrochloride with extremely
high purity levels.

Laboratories are located throughout Afghanistan, with a significant number
of conversion laboratories located in Helmand Province.

Afghanistan produces no essential or precursor chemicals. Acetic anhydride
(AA), which is the most commonly used acetylating agent in heroin
processing, is smuggled primarily from Pakistan, India, Central Asia,
China, and Europe.

According to the World Customs Organization, China seized 5,670 metric tons
of AA destined for Afghanistan in April 2000.

It is regrettable that since the fall of the Taleban in Afghanistan, the
scourge of drug trafficking has not been eradicated and is still taking
victims throughout the world. According to UNDCP reports, farmers have
traditionally stored up to 60 percent of each year's crop for future sale,
which suggests that the farmers themselves may still have significant
stocks of opium.

Since donor countries agreed to contribute to the reconstruction of
Afghanistan at the Tokyo Conference on January 21 and 22, they should help
the Afghan government destroy the poppy fields and find replacement crops.
The UNDCP, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the interim Afghan
government and key regional countries such as Iran, Saudi Arabia and Russia
can play very important roles in this campaign.