Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Posts tagged: Drug Trafficking

Drug Trafficking

Samples of methamphetamine and other synthetic drugs, like ecstasy and MDMA, exhibited in the display cabinet of state-of-the-art CNPA forensics lab in Kabul, Afghanistan (Photo by Jelena Bjelica 2015)

Afghanistan Breaking Bad: Crystal meth, a new drug on the market

Jelena Bjelica •

The first methamphetamine seizure in Afghanistan was recorded in 2008, a minor capture of four grams in Helmand province. Now, seven years later, some 17 kilograms of methamphetamine, popularly known as ‘crystal meth’, were seized in the first ten months of 2015, in 14 out of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces. The Ministry of Counter Narcotics warned […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more
Under Pul-e Sukhta bridge. Photo: Qayoom Suroush

Under the Bridge: The drug addicts’ scene in Kabul

Qayoom Suroush •

Addiction to drugs is an often underestimated phenomenon in Afghanistan. Thousands of people become addicted to drugs every year in a country that is the world’s major producer of opiates, although many of them developed the habit while living abroad as refugees. In Kabul, they concentrate in western areas of the city, living in veritable […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

“Opium anzubauen bringt den afghanischen Bauern am meisten”

Thomas Ruttig •

SRF4 (Swiss radio), 14 Noveember 2013 Listen to the audio of an interview AAN’s Thomas Ruttig gave to Swiss radio about the latest UNODC report regarding poppy cultivation.

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Blühende Landschaften: Vor dem Abzug der internationalen Truppen floriert in Afghanistan der Mohn-Anbau

Thomas Ruttig •

Die Welt, 14 Novemeber 2014 The German daily reports about the latest UNODC poppy report on Afghanistan and extensively quotes AAN’s Doris Buddenberg and Thomas Ruttig: “As a result of the upcoming troop withdrawal, the pressure to act against poppy cultivation has dropped significantly”, says Thomas Ruttig, Co-Direktor of the Thinktank Afghan [sic] Analysts Network. The government’s […]

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Mali, Afghanistan – Conflicts Worlds Apart? Parallels and Lessons to be Learnt

Thomas Ruttig •

When jihadist groups took over the northern half of Mali last year and French troops intervened in January this year, a discussion ensued in the media and among analysts about whether Mali was, or would become, a ‘second’ or ‘African’ Afghanistan. Most found a comparison ludicrous. With Mali’s presidential election coming up on today, 28 […]

International Engagement Read more

Police and Thieves in Ishkashim: Local residents react to flaws and abuses

Fabrizio Foschini •

When a robber who had been detained by villagers in a remote district of Badakhshan escaped police custody overnight on Saturday, local residents blamed police connivance. Exasperated, they took to the streets, demanding the arrest of the runaway and the removal of the district chief of police and governor. Surprisingly, they won the day. Yet, […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

So, this is the office that will investigate Afghanistan’s Kam Air?

admin •

Christian Science Monitor
, 6 February 2013 Following his article a day earlier, CSM’s Dan Murphy asks ‘key questions about the credibility of the Afghan attorney general’s office as it prepares to investigate accusations that Kam Air is involved in drug-smuggling’.

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The Poppy Palaces … of Kabul, where Scarface meets Scarsdale

admin •

Vanity Fair, 9 January 2013 The author looks into the narco-palaces of Sherpur, with ‘“For Rent” signs all over’ it and waiting that ‘Blackwater’s coming’, referring to the security firm now called Academi, and the US’s ‘zero option’.

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Poor Afghans farm hashish as alternative to poppy

admin •

Xinhua. 22 October 2012 The Chinese news agency reports from Baghlan province how Afghan farmers, threatened by winter, return to hashish growing. It also reports that Baghlan and Faryab provinces in the northern region and Kapisa province in the eastern region have lost the poppy-free status and resumed poppy cultivation.

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Murder spotlights Pakistan’s ‘heroin kingpin’

admin •

Reuters, 5 September 2012 A fascinating story about a key Baluch drugs smuggler, his alleged links to Pakistani intelligence and – of course – to the Afghan conflict.

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Afghan Politicking after the Rebellion in Tajik Badakhshan (amended)

Thomas Ruttig •

After a week of fighting, events in Tajikistan’s part of Badakhshan are quietening down. While a lot has been made in some media outlets of a possible cross-border Taleban link, events seem to have their background in the drug economy rather. On the Afghan side of the border politicking as a side-effect of the events […]

Regional Relations Read more

Afghan Drug Trade Sends Tremors

admin •

Wall Street Journal, 1 August 2012 Security operation in Tajikistan targets former rebel commender, now turned border police chief, in an attempt to rearrange who controls the drug trade in the border region, and turns into a violent clash. Details are unclear as phone, road and internet access has been blocked. An Afghan district police […]

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