U.S. boosting efforts against drugs in Afghanistan
State Department report accuses N. Korea of drug trafficking
From Elise Labott
CNN Washington Bureau
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Poppy plants contain the elements needed to make opium.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States is stepping up its efforts to curb poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, a nation that "has re-emerged as the world's leading supplier of illicit opium, morphine and heroin," the State Department's top counter-narcotics official said Monday.
The State Department's annual International Narcotics Control Strategy Report for 2003 also warned of an increase in the production, trafficking and use of synthetic drugs around the world and accused the North Korean government of drug trafficking throughout East Asia.
The report said international and U.S. surveys in 2003 indicate Afghanistan is responsible for 75 percent of the world's opium production, with poppies under cultivation in 28 of the country's 32 provinces.
In his annual report to Congress in September, President Bush included Afghanistan on his list of major drug-producing and/or drug-transit countries.
The U.S. government estimates the opium poppy crop in Afghanistan nearly doubled between 2002 and 2003, and according to International Monetary Fund calculations, the opium trade now makes up between 40 percent and 60 percent of the country's gross domestic product, the report said.
Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Robert Charles said the drug problem in Afghanistan is largely a result of the "postwar environment" after the Taliban fell at the hands of the U.S. military in 2001.
"People needed to survive," Charles said. "In Afghanistan, poppy eradication is physically and also politically difficult for a young government recovering from the aftermath of war, and a quarter-century of political misrule and economic chaos."
Charles said international reconstruction programs and alternative development programs for Afghan farmers, coupled with aggressive counter-narcotics efforts and increased security, would seek to curb poppy cultivation.
Also on Bush's so-called "majors list" for 2004 are the Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Thailand, Venezuela and Vietnam.
Countries are judged on their performance in curbing cultivation, extraditing drug traffickers and enacting law enforcement measures to prosecute drug-related crimes.
Efforts taken by the countries to stop production and export of drugs and to reduce domestic demand are also considered.
Bush designated Burma and Haiti as countries that "failed demonstrably" last year to combat their drug problems, a designation that mandates U.S. sanctions.
But the president determined that U.S. assistance to Haiti in "is vital to the national interests of the United States."
Charles said he did not expect drug trafficking in Haiti to end now that President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has stepped down.
He said the United States and other countries would work to stabilize the security situation, and could train police and help the new Haitian government establish anticorruption policies, which could reduce trafficking in the country.
Guatemala, which was on the list last year, was dropped because of its counter-narcotics efforts.
The State Department report cited the United States as a major source of precursor or essential chemicals used in the production of narcotics, along with Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, Mexico and the Netherlands.
Although the Netherlands continues to concern U.S. officials, the report commended the country for its efforts to address its drug problem, including curbing the trafficking of precursor chemicals.
The report noted U.S. concern about large quantities of precursor chemicals entering the United States from Canada and about widespread Canadian cultivation of high-potency marijuana, significant amounts of which are smuggled into the United States.
The relative ease and low cost of manufacturing synthetic drugs such as the amphetamine Ecstasy "appeals as much to small drug entrepreneurs as to the large international syndicates," the report said.
"Synthetics can be made anywhere and offer enormous profit margins," it said.
The report also said the North Korean government is involved in trafficking heroin and methamphetamines.
It cited the seizure of 125 kilograms of heroin smuggled to Australia aboard the North Korean-owned vessel Pong Su in April 2003 as "the latest and largest seizure of heroin pointing to North Korean complicity in the drug trade."
The report found that aggressive counter-narcotics efforts by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, with cooperation from the United States, have paid off over the past several years.
Cocaine production decreased 8 percent in 2002, according to the report.
Charles said the United States has seen "fairly significant indications" that there will be a greater reduction for 2003.
Colombia is reaching a "true tipping point" in its counter-narcotics efforts over the last 30 years, Charles said.
He cited aggressive coca field eradication, drug interdictions, arrests and extraditions of drug lords, and alternative development programs.
The report also noted a drop in coca cultivation in Peru and in some areas of Bolivia, leaving open the prospect that the total Andean coca crop in 2003 may be one of the smallest in years.
Cooperation with Mexico on counter-narcotics efforts has also been "significantly better" over the past few years, Charles said, noting that Mexico is also reaching a "tipping point" in its drug war.
Charles said there has been a "sincere effort" by the administration of President Vicente Fox to battle drug trafficking and corruption.
For the first time, the report addresses money laundering and terrorist financing in connection with drug trafficking and production.
Terrorists and their supporters "often employ the same methods and exploit the same financial systems as money launderers," Charles said.
"The tools used to combat terrorist financing are in many ways similar to the means used to deter money laundering," he said.
