fatman17
PDF THINK TANK: CONSULTANT
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2007
- Messages
- 32,563
- Reaction score
- 98
- Country
- Location
Pakistan on frontline of war against drugs; US
WASHINGTON, March 1 (APP): Pakistan is on the frontline of the war against drugs, striving to regain its poppy-free status and curb transit of narcotics through its territory from neighboring Afghanistan, where opium production is at an all-time high, according to a new US report.
The past year has seen major counternarcotics interdictions by the Frontier Corps Baluchistan and the Pakistan Coast Guards. Customs and Excise, the Maritime Security Agency, and the Home Departments of the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) and Baluchistan Province also are active in disrupting traffickers, an annual US report released Friday afternoon acknowledged.
The 2008 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report to Congress noted that the Pakistani governments counternarcotics efforts are led by the Anti-Narcotics Force under the Ministry of Narcotics Control, which is working in coordination with UNODC to release a five year master drug control plan.
The US assistance programs in counternarcotics and border security continue to strengthen the capacity of law enforcement agencies and improve their access to remote areas where much of the drug trafficking takes place, evidenced by 11 MT of heroin and 15 MT of opium seized in 2007, it added.
The government of Pakistan is committed to regaining the poppy-free status it reached in 2001, the report said while noting that the country has been responding with forceful eradication campaigns to destroy poppy grown by cultivators who tried to exploit situation in remote areas bordering Afghanistan.
Thus Pakistan reversed the trend in 2005 and 2006, reducing the poppy harvest (i.e., after eradication) to 1,549 ha by 2006, it stated.
Since poppy cultivation continues to rise in Afghanistan, Pakistan has to fight transit of heroin, morphine, opium, and hashish to other regions by land and sea.
The U.S.-funded Border Security Project, which began in 2002, is building GOP interdiction capabilities along the 1600-kilometer Afghan border, as demonstrated by drug seizures in 2007 by border security forces. However, successfully interdicting drug shipments is difficult given the vast terrain, the sheer number of smuggling routes, and the fact that smugglers are well armed and not afraid to engage government forces, said the report.
On domestic drug addiction, the report said according to the Pakistani government estimates there are two to three million drug addicts in the total population of 162 million, although no accurate figure exist. In respect of law enforcement efforts, the report notes that in 2007, the law enforcement and security forces reported seizing 10.9 MT (MT) of heroin/morphine and 15.3 MT of opium. 93.8 MT of hashish was also seized in this time period.
According to the ANF, in 2007, all GOP law enforcement authorities reported arresting 50,100 individuals (48,724 cases) on drug-related charges for 2007. The ANF itself had 1,702 cases pending, 1,187 from 2006 and 515 new cases through September 2007. Of that total there were 301 convictions through October 1, 2007.
The United States has no evidence that any senior government officials encourage or facilitate the illicit production or distribution of narcotic drugs or the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug transactions.
Citing the governments continued counternarcotics efforts, the report also recounted that a large opium processing lab in Baluchistan was destroyed by the ANF (Anti-Narcotics Force) in June 2006. The Government of Pakistan (GOP) maintains that no opiate laboratories have been detected operating in Pakistan, it added. Looking ahead in US-Pakistan anti-narcotics cooperation, it says the centerpiece of USG assistance to Pakistan is a newly launched effort to support the Government of Pakistans FATA Sustainable Development Plan (SDP). The U.S. has launched a five-year, $750 million FATA Development Strategy which features job creation, health, and educational services, institution building, infrastructural development, and measures for expanding the local economy. This supports the GOPs nine-year $2 billion dollar SDP. In addition, the U.S. is providing training and equipment to the Frontier Corps and Frontier Constabulary to improve security conditions in the FATA and NWFP.
The United States will continue to assist the GOP in its nation-wide efforts to eliminate poppy, to build capacity to its borders, to conduct investigations that dismantle drug trafficking organizations, to increase convictions and asset forfeitures, and to reduce demand for illicit drugs through enhanced prevention, intervention, and treatment programs. Implementation of these strategies will require GOP perseverance in strict enforcement of the poppy ban and eradication efforts, development of an indigenous drug intelligence capability, GOP interagency cooperation, more effective use of resources and training, and enhanced regional cooperation and information sharing
WASHINGTON, March 1 (APP): Pakistan is on the frontline of the war against drugs, striving to regain its poppy-free status and curb transit of narcotics through its territory from neighboring Afghanistan, where opium production is at an all-time high, according to a new US report.
The past year has seen major counternarcotics interdictions by the Frontier Corps Baluchistan and the Pakistan Coast Guards. Customs and Excise, the Maritime Security Agency, and the Home Departments of the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) and Baluchistan Province also are active in disrupting traffickers, an annual US report released Friday afternoon acknowledged.
The 2008 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report to Congress noted that the Pakistani governments counternarcotics efforts are led by the Anti-Narcotics Force under the Ministry of Narcotics Control, which is working in coordination with UNODC to release a five year master drug control plan.
The US assistance programs in counternarcotics and border security continue to strengthen the capacity of law enforcement agencies and improve their access to remote areas where much of the drug trafficking takes place, evidenced by 11 MT of heroin and 15 MT of opium seized in 2007, it added.
The government of Pakistan is committed to regaining the poppy-free status it reached in 2001, the report said while noting that the country has been responding with forceful eradication campaigns to destroy poppy grown by cultivators who tried to exploit situation in remote areas bordering Afghanistan.
Thus Pakistan reversed the trend in 2005 and 2006, reducing the poppy harvest (i.e., after eradication) to 1,549 ha by 2006, it stated.
Since poppy cultivation continues to rise in Afghanistan, Pakistan has to fight transit of heroin, morphine, opium, and hashish to other regions by land and sea.
The U.S.-funded Border Security Project, which began in 2002, is building GOP interdiction capabilities along the 1600-kilometer Afghan border, as demonstrated by drug seizures in 2007 by border security forces. However, successfully interdicting drug shipments is difficult given the vast terrain, the sheer number of smuggling routes, and the fact that smugglers are well armed and not afraid to engage government forces, said the report.
On domestic drug addiction, the report said according to the Pakistani government estimates there are two to three million drug addicts in the total population of 162 million, although no accurate figure exist. In respect of law enforcement efforts, the report notes that in 2007, the law enforcement and security forces reported seizing 10.9 MT (MT) of heroin/morphine and 15.3 MT of opium. 93.8 MT of hashish was also seized in this time period.
According to the ANF, in 2007, all GOP law enforcement authorities reported arresting 50,100 individuals (48,724 cases) on drug-related charges for 2007. The ANF itself had 1,702 cases pending, 1,187 from 2006 and 515 new cases through September 2007. Of that total there were 301 convictions through October 1, 2007.
The United States has no evidence that any senior government officials encourage or facilitate the illicit production or distribution of narcotic drugs or the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug transactions.
Citing the governments continued counternarcotics efforts, the report also recounted that a large opium processing lab in Baluchistan was destroyed by the ANF (Anti-Narcotics Force) in June 2006. The Government of Pakistan (GOP) maintains that no opiate laboratories have been detected operating in Pakistan, it added. Looking ahead in US-Pakistan anti-narcotics cooperation, it says the centerpiece of USG assistance to Pakistan is a newly launched effort to support the Government of Pakistans FATA Sustainable Development Plan (SDP). The U.S. has launched a five-year, $750 million FATA Development Strategy which features job creation, health, and educational services, institution building, infrastructural development, and measures for expanding the local economy. This supports the GOPs nine-year $2 billion dollar SDP. In addition, the U.S. is providing training and equipment to the Frontier Corps and Frontier Constabulary to improve security conditions in the FATA and NWFP.
The United States will continue to assist the GOP in its nation-wide efforts to eliminate poppy, to build capacity to its borders, to conduct investigations that dismantle drug trafficking organizations, to increase convictions and asset forfeitures, and to reduce demand for illicit drugs through enhanced prevention, intervention, and treatment programs. Implementation of these strategies will require GOP perseverance in strict enforcement of the poppy ban and eradication efforts, development of an indigenous drug intelligence capability, GOP interagency cooperation, more effective use of resources and training, and enhanced regional cooperation and information sharing
