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| May 14, 2005 | Saturday | Rabi-us-Sani 5, 1426 |
UN to help Pakistan combat drug trade: official
ISLAMABAD, May 13: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) would increase cooperation with Pakistan to control drug smuggling from Afghanistan. This was stated by the UNODC executive director, Antonio Maria Costa, at a joint press conference with Minister for Narcotics Control, Ghaus Bux Mahar, here on Thursday.
“We need to support Pakistan’s efforts to strengthen its enforcement strategies to meet emerging threats.
“Change is coming, and I think the criminals who continue to pollute this country with drugs and dirty money are in for a big surprise,” he said.
He said Pakistan had been facing an alarming situation due to increasing poppy production in Afghanistan.
“Pakistan’s victory over poppy cultivation was a real success story...but Afghan heroin continues to flow into the country,” he said.
He lauded the steps taken by the Pakistan government against drug traffickers and narcotics smuggling.
The UN official said significant increase in cultivation of opium in Afghanistan had been a threat to Pakistan, making it the ‘most-exposed country’ due to their long and porous border.
“The UN has suggested four steps to the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, in November to eradicate narcotics. These included improved law enforcement against cultivation, arrest of drug traffickers and engaging in integrity initiatives,” he said.
In 2004, Afghanistan produced more than 4,000 tons of opiates meant for American and European markets.
The UN, he said, had been committed to supporting Pakistan to help stem the flow of drugs from Afghanistan and to control the drug problem in that war-ravaged country.
“We need to support Pakistan’s efforts to strengthen its enforcement strategies to meet the emerging threats,” he said.
Mr Costa said he had met President General Pervez Musharraf, Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao and the Minister for Narcotics Control and discussed threats posed to Pakistan by terrorism and drug trafficking and ways and means to strengthen border controls.
He noted resurgence of poppy cultivation in Pakistan but said it had not been at a large scale.
The Minister for Narcotics Control, Ghaus Bux Mahar, said growing poppy cultivation in Afghanistan also had its impact on Pakistan, and there was now some cultivation in certain areas close to the Afghan border.
Mr Costa pledged more UN assistance and cooperation to the country for law enforcement and protection of its borders and ports.
The UN official also lauded Pakistan for its role as a front-line state in the fight against terrorism, saying the international community had recognized the strides made by the country in fighting the menace.
“We compliment the Pakistani leadership for their initiatives and support,” he said and assured full support to Pakistan through the global programme for curbing terrorism.
Responding to a question, Mr Costa said it had been a misperception that the Taliban regime had managed to reduce poppy cultivation in the country.
Quoting from UN statistics, he said the production of opium in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s had been 2,300 tons, and it had increased to 4,600 tons by the year 2000.
Mr Costa said it had only been during the last year of the Taliban regime that the production was brought down to a ‘negligible amount’.
He attributed the revival of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan to lack of control of the central government in areas beyond Kabul, which remained largely under the influence of the warlords.
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