WikiLeaks cables: 'Taliban treats heroin stocks like savings accounts'

[sabra]

Source: Guardian UK

Head of UN office on drugs and crime Antonio Maria Costa says Afghan gangs and Taliban stockpiling drug to manipulate street price in the west

The United Nations' drugs czar told Nato that Afghan insurgents were withholding thousands of tonnes of heroin and treating their drugs like "savings accounts" to manipulate street prices in the west, according to a leaked US cable.

Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UN's office on drugs and crime, told Nato representatives that the Taliban and organised crime gangs had withheld 12,400 tonnes of opium from the international market to keep the price of heroin and opium at a profitable level. The opium allegedly withheld by insurgents was worth around $1.25bn (£800m). Each tonne of opium is said to be worth around $100,000 and can be used to produce 100kg of heroin.

The US cable appears to show that the UN believed that the Taliban and other insurgents in Afghanistan were well-organised, aware of the market and focused on maintaining a viable price for the drug.

...

Under the heading "Opium Stocks Remain High", the cable states: "Costa said that Afghanistan has 12,400 tonnes of opium stocks because it produces more than the world consumes. Costa believes that the insurgency is withholding these stocks from the market and treating them like 'savings accounts'. He said the stocks pose a serious threat as it could be used to finance the insurgency. Costa encourage intelligence organizations to to keep focus on the storage and movement of Afghanistan's opium stocks."

Costa's reported opinion was not part of the UN's final 2009 Afghanistan Survey.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/20/wikileaks-cables-taliban-heroin-stockpile

[ixion]

1. Pot, meet kettle

...

[TheWraith]

2. Well, at least we know where some of it is going now.

It's been known for awhile that Afghanistan's estimated poppy crop was roughly double the known worldwide demand, meaning that either someone was stockpiling massively, or there were a lot of unaccounted for addicts, or both. Now we know at least where some of the stuff has gone.

Of course it's one more point of evidence for the good that would be done if we adopted sane drug policies...

[ixion]

3. The current market value of that crop is the reason the drug policy is insane

in my opinion.

[TheWraith]

4. Puritanism is the reason drug policy is insane.

The belief that someone putting heroin into their body to stimulate their brain is somehow less moral than someone who does the same with booze.

[EFerrari]

5. Unprosecuted IranContra is the reason drug policy is insane.

They never stopped.

[marasinghe]

6. add to which: the probability that the cia is stocking up for the coming economic meltdown ....

in fungible goods.

[TheWraith]

7. Wow, this thread went tin-foil-hat incredibly fast. nt

[marasinghe]

8. get half a sense of humor, pal; that's maybe 50% in tin-foil dimension.

:eyes:

[EFerrari]

9. LOL. That's the ticket.

Iran Contra: Where are they now?

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/BrianRoss/popup?id=3196035

I think this thing is about four years old.

[marasinghe]

10. lol is right. totally missed the gates connection. thanks for the pointer. o/ (n/t)

[IAmAWoofDog]

11. no political party and no national government can simply ignore

a market of this size, however they choose to relate to it publicly.

[ixion]

12. Well, though there are some puritans out there, the real reason is money

it's always about the money. The morals and ethics are relative to that, for all but a few extremists.