27 October 2008
Alleged Opium Kingpin Charged With Financing Taliban
Arrest highlights Afghanistan’s progress against traffickers, terrorists
Washington — The arrest of alleged Taliban-linked drug kingpin Haji Juma Khan marks another step forward in international efforts to break linkages between opium traffickers and violent militants that threaten Afghanistan’s fledgling democracy, say top U.S. officials.
“Proceeds from Haji Juma Khan’s global drug trafficking organization funded the terrorist activities of the Taliban,” Michelle Leonhart, acting administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), told reporters October 24. “His arrest disrupts a significant line of credit to the Taliban and will shake the foundation of his drug network that has moved massive quantities of heroin to worldwide drug markets.”
Beginning in 1999, Khan led a criminal organization that processed and distributed more than 40 tons of opium, morphine and heroin through a network of illicit drug labs in southern Afghanistan, says U.S. Attorney Michael J. Garcia, who joined Leonhart to discuss the case. Khan was aligned closely with Taliban militants, Garcia said, offering a share of drug profits in exchange for protection of opium poppy fields, smuggling routes, production labs and other facilities.
Khan arrived in New York City earlier in the day to face criminal charges after being detained by Indonesian officials at a Jakarta airport upon arrival from Dubai and handed over to U.S. law enforcement officials. Garcia praised the DEA investigation, which was conducted in partnership with Interpol, the United Kingdom’s Serious Organised Crime Agency and Turkey’s National Police and Jandarma.
DEA and Afghan officials previously collaborated in a four-year investigation that brought to justice another Taliban-linked drug trafficker, Haji Baz Mohammad, who was sentenced to nearly 16 years in prison in October 2007. (See “Afghan Justice, Agriculture Sectors Grow, Confront Opium Trade.”)
“The arrest of Haji Juma Khan is another significant step in the continuing effort to combat terrorism by stopping the flow of narcotics proceeds that help fund the Taliban and other terrorist organizations,” Garcia said.
NEW SURVEY SUGGESTS STEEP DROP IN AFGHAN OPIUM PRODUCTION
Meanwhile, strengthening governance and improving security conditions in Afghanistan have led to a 31 percent decline in opium production, says John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).
“Afghanistan needs peace, a flourishing economy and the rule of law to succeed as a democracy. Each of these conditions is undone by narcotics production,” Walters told reporters October 24 during a briefing on ONDCP’s latest report on Afghan opium poppy cultivation. “That is why today’s news is so encouraging to the people of Afghanistan.”
Opium production declined from 8,800 tons in 2007 to 6,100 tons for 2008, Walters said. New opium poppy cultivation also decreased by 22 percent to 157,000 hectares, he said, down from 202,000 hectares in 2007, and nearly 10 percent below the 2006 level of 172,600.
Opium production has been nearly eliminated in most of Afghanistan’s north and east, Walters said, where 18 of the country’s 34 provinces are now certified to be “poppy-free” — up from 15 in 2007 and 12 in 2006. Eleven other Afghan provinces were found to have low levels of opium cultivation, Walters said, while the country’s five southern provinces — where militants remain most active and the central government’s authority is weakest — remain the center of gravity for efforts to confront illegal narcotics and the climate of violence and corruption they encourage.
The United States is supporting Afghan efforts to build on its success, Walters said. The Afghans run public information campaigns discouraging opium cultivation and encouraging farmers to raise alternative crops. The United States participates in partnerships to seize drug shipments and facilities, eradicate opium crops and train a new generation of Afghan law enforcement officials to arrest, prosecute and punish traffickers and corrupt officials.
“Afghanistan has been victimized for too long by the violence, misery and addiction caused by the illegal drug trade,” Walter said. “We look forward to continuing cooperation with the government of Afghanistan and our allies as we work to defeat the narcotics industry and the terrorist groups that rely on the drug business to kill innocent people and attack democracy and freedom across the globe.”
