Europe officials fear cheap Afghan opium flooding the markets

By Paul Geitner

Associated Press

BRUSSELS, Belgium – Officials fear that Afghan opium traders are flooding the markets in order to make quick money ahead of a feared U.S. retaliatory strike on the country harboring Osama bin Laden.

The sell-off following the Sept. 11 terror attacks has partly led to a sharp decrease in the price of opium in Afghanistan, the world’s leading supplier. But lower prices have yet to be felt on the streets of Europe were most of the opium ends up, law enforcement officials say.

Production of opium – a derivative of poppies and the raw material for heroin – has been an important source of revenue for Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban which has earned tens of millions of dollars by taxing poppy farmers and traffickers.

Last year, the Taliban imposed a ban on poppy growing, an industry the hardline rulers deemed “unIslamic.” But the ban applied only to cultivation and officials believe drug trading continues from a stockpile estimated at 2,900 tons – more than a year’s supply.

In a speech Tuesday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair accused the Taliban of controlling “the biggest drugs hoard in the world.” In Britain, it accounts for 90 percent of the heroin sold, according to government figures.

“The arms the Taliban are buying today are paid for with the lives of young British people buying their drugs on British streets,” Blair said. “That is another part of their regime that we should seek to destroy.”

Since the terror attacks, opium prices in Afghanistan have plummeted 80 percent, a development experts say is partly due to the quick selling.

“One could say that farmers trying to flee and people who have the stocks are trying to make some cash and go to a safe place,” said Mohammad Amirkhizi, senior policy adviser at the U.N. Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention in Vienna, Austria.

A U.S. official charged that the Taliban is likely behind the sudden increase in opium that is making its way into Europe and Asia.

“I think it is very much in control of the Taliban,” said the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Amirkhizi said his agency was not mandated to determine who controls the stocks but, he added, “there have been these linkages between the Taliban and production because of their tax system.”

The U.N. drug control agency chief, Pino Arlacchi, said last week that the supplies probably were in the hands of “criminal groups who are as powerful as the Taliban and as powerful as anyone else in Afghanistan.”

The 2000 opium crop sold before the ban on new cultivation at $30 per kilogram meant roughly $100 million for farmers and tens of millions of dollars in taxes for the Taliban, who collect 10 percent tax from farmers – no matter what the crop – and 20 percent from traders.

The ban on cultivation in July 2000 sent the price soaring to a peak of $700 last March pushing the Taliban’s take even higher.

Bernard Frahi, the U.N. agency’s regional representative in Pakistan said that since the terror attacks, however, the price has fallen back down to $120 a kilo.

Some of that drop can be attributed to a rush of people selling “whatever they have to get cash before a military attack,” Frahi said. Other factors pushing down prices include border-tightening around Afghanistan since the attacks.

In London this week, Blair’s office said Afghan traders were “unloading stock” more quickly onto the market.

Law enforcement and drug control agencies in London, Amsterdam and elsewhere say they haven’t noticed any change yet in heroin prices on the street, where a gram goes for anywhere from $20 in the Netherlands to $235 in Sweden.

Swings in raw material prices usually take months to filter down, they say.

Doubts are also increasing about whether the Taliban will be able to keep its cultivation ban in place if they come under attack – meaning prices may stay down long-term.

“You cannot punish a tribe for planting poppies and at the same time ask them to take up weapons to defend you,” Frahi said.

Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Customers enter and exit the Costco on Dec. 2, 2022, in Lake Stevens. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Costco stores could be impacted by looming truck driver strike threat

Truck drivers who deliver groceries and produce to Costco warehouses… Continue reading

Two Washington State ferries pass along the route between Mukilteo and Clinton as scuba divers swim near the shore Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023, in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ferry system increases ridership by a half million in 2024

Edmonds-Kingston route remains second-busiest route in the system.

The second floor of the Lynnwood Crisis Center on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025 in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Funding gap leaves Lynnwood without a crisis center provider

The idea for the Lynnwood crisis center began in 2021 after a 47-year-old died by suicide while in custody at Lynnwood Municipal Jail.

Three seriously injured after head-on collision on Highway 522

The crash between Monroe and Maltby happened around 4:30 p.m. on Monday.

Fernando Espinoza salts the sidewalk along Fifth Avenue South on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Think this is cold, Snohomish County? Wait until Tuesday

Tuesday could bring dangerous wind chill during the day and an overnight low of 19 degrees

Robin Cain with 50 of her marathon medals hanging on a display board she made with her father on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Running a marathon is hard. She ran one in every state.

Robin Cain, of Lake Stevens, is one of only a few thousand people to ever achieve the feat.

People line up to grab food at the Everett Recovery Cafe on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Coffee, meals and compassion are free at the Everett Recovery Cafe

The free, membership-based day center offers free coffee and meals and more importantly, camaraderie and recovery support.

Devani Padron, left, Daisy Ramos perform during dance class at Mari's Place Monday afternoon in Everett on July 13, 2016. (Kevin Clark / The Herald)
Mari’s Place helps children build confidence and design a better future

The Everett-based nonprofit offers free and low-cost classes in art, music, theater and dance for children ages 5 to 14.

The Everett Wastewater Treatment Plant along the Snohomish River on Thursday, June 16, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett water, sewer rates could jump 43% by 2028

The rate hikes would pay for improvements to the city’s sewer infrastructure.

The bond funded new track and field at Northshore Middle School on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024 in Bothell, Washington. (Courtesy of Northshore School District)
Northshore School District bond improvements underway

The $425 million bond is funding new track and field complexes, playgrounds and phase one of two school replacements.

The Washington State Department of Licensing office is seen in 2018 in Seattle. (Sue Misao / The Herald)
Drivers licensing offices to close Feb. 14-17

Online services are also not available Feb. 10-17. The Washington State Department of Licensing said the move is necessary to upgrade software.

Pharmacist Nisha Mathew prepares a Pfizer COVID booster shot for a patient at Bartell Drugs on Broadway on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett lawmakers back universal health care bill, introduced in Olympia

Proponents say providing health care for all is a “fundamental human right.” Opponents worry about the cost of implementing it.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.