March, 23 2005	Wednesday	12 Safar 1426

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ISLAMABAD, March 22: Poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has broken all previous records as its area of cultivation has increased from 80,000 hectares in 2003 to 206,700 hectares in 2004, Minister for Narcotics Control Ghaus Bux Mahar said on Tuesday. Pakistan has become the worst affected country by large- scale poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, he said while speaking at the conclusion of a two-day international expert roundtable conference organized by the Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) under the Paris Pact initiative. The conference was attended by the delegates of 30 different countries and departments: the US, the UK, Afghanistan, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iran, India, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Turkey, European Commission, Interpol, Europol, Economic Coordination Organization, United Nation Office of Drug and Crime and Narcotics Affairs section of the US embassy in Pakistan.

The minister said Rs4.1 billion assets belonging to drug-traffickers had been frozen. He claimed that at present, there was no heroin laboratory on Pakistan’s soil.

“Increase in poppy cultivation in Afghanistan is affecting Pakistan’s bids to control drug-trafficking,” he said, adding that it was difficult for the country to tackle the menace alone due to a long border with Afghanistan and limited resources.

He said: “Most of the drugs produced in Afghanistan find their way into Pakistan through the 2,500km border, and are then smuggled to European countries via Iran and the Persian Gulf,” he said.

Mr Mahar urged the international community to come forward and extend financial and logistic support to Pakistan to expedite its efforts to check drug-trafficking into and through Pakistan to other countries.

He said the government had made successful efforts to check poppy cultivation in the country. Pakistan, despite its meagre resources, was making strenuous efforts to eradicate the menace of drug-trafficking, he said.

Mr Mahar said the international community had appreciated the ANF’s efforts in controlling drug-trafficking. The ANF was motivating farmers to cultivate other crops in place of poppy, he added.

He said the ANF strength would be increased up to 3,000 personnel, while a summary had already been sent to the prime minister for increasing their salaries and other facilities.

At the conclusion of the session, the ANF director-general, Maj-Gen Nadeem Ahmed, told Dawn that 420 metric tons of heroin could be produced from the present poppy crop being cultivated in Afghanistan.

Giving details about the conference, he said it was organized under Paris Pact with a view to highlighting the problems being faced by Pakistan due to poppy cultivation in Afghanistan and smuggling of drugs.