Is Pakistan more corrupt than before?
Under the Taliban prior to the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2003, opium production was banned. In an article that appeared in the New York Times in May, 2001 it was reported "the Taliban's ban on opium production was a success". Pakistan's PM Imran Khan has enormous obstacles before him with a country full of drug addicts, constant war, enormous poverty, massive corruption, tightly controlled media, a wealthy class protecting their private interests and the Pakistan military and intelligence apparatus that run the country. And Pakistan is a Muslim country; "Islam a religion of peace." Without the approval of the Pakistan army no one would be approved to be prime minister of Pakistan including Imran Khan who is working on promoting trade with China and India.
News update for 27 June 2020: Afghanistan's Multibillion Dollar Opium Trade, Rising Heroin Addiction in the US
The drug trade all changed when the US military invaded Afghanistan in 2003. Since 2003 opium production has never been higher. As opium production rapidly increased since 2003, Pakistan was been pulled ever deeper into drug trafficking and consumption that now in 2020, has become a "national security threat" to Pakistan. To what level that "national security threat" would be is based on just how much Pakistan's military is involved in the drug trade. The Taliban threatened in 2001 that if Afghanistan was invaded they would lift the ban on opium production. The Taliban didn't have a choice, the ban was lifted when the US invaded.
Imran Khan Takes on Corruption in Pakistan
The duplicity in western media concerning opium production becomes apparent considering the Taliban had banned opium production ending in 2003 when the US military invaded Afghanistan. Western media reported even up until 2016 the opium trade was "fueling the Taliban's war machine." There is no doubt the Oxford-educated Imran Khan is likely being observed by the British MI6 including accusations his wife claimed, that were made against her including an accusation she was an "MI6 asset." Reham Khan (Imran Khan's second wife) and Imran Khan were married for ten months with all sorts of accusations thrown at each other as to the reasons for the divorce.
PM Imran Khan Full Speech on Drugs in Pakistan
Had the US not invaded Afghanistan there would have never been a Taliban "war machine" to begin with. Today, the drug trade out of Afghanistan is a multi-billion dollar yearly global operation and was the plan all along to restore the drug trade when the US invaded. The consequences for Pakistan have been devastating with some observers saying that Pakistan is the most "heroin addicted country in the world" fueling crime and poverty that is off the charts. Interlopers in the drug trade coming through Pakistan can have rivals knocked off for US$50. Life is worthless. The US-based think tank Brookings Institute, always "intellectually" covering for US foreign policy towards Afghanistan, states the US shouldn't "overreact because there is nothing that can be done about opiate production in Afghanistan." The US dumped an estimated $1 trillion into Afghanistan since 2003 and there is nothing that can be done about opiate production? There never was a plan to curtail or stop opiate production in the first place.
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These sickening videos of Australian SAS troops murdering unarmed Afghan civilians are a disgrace to my country
When business and Afghanistan are mentioned in an article that business aspect has a drug component attached. To survive Pakistan is tied to IMF loans and the servicing of the debts on IMF loans can never be paid off. Pakistan's inability to service IMF loans will continue because the coronavirus threat will cripple Pakistan's economy. The alternative is to write off these IMF loans as PM Imran Khan is now calling for. Every year Pakistan continues to get further and further into debt to the IMF. Why is it the leaders of Pakistan have gone to the IMF 22 times for loans in 61 years? It's the 207 million Pakistani people themselves who will feel the crushing brunt of these loans keeping Pakistan in a perpetual state of crime and grinding poverty with a massive drug culture fueling the social problems there. It's never the wealthy leaders of any country who go to the IMF for loans to keep the economies of countries stable who will feel the crushing weight of these loans. External debt in Pakistan increased to "111047 USD million in the fourth quarter of 2019 from 106891 USD Million in the third quarter of 2019. Pakistan Total External Debt - values, historical data and charts": Pakistan Total External Debt
How the New US-Afghanistan Peace Deal Rekindled a "Business Friendly Taliban"
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Source: OCCRP
1. "The Southern Route": Afghanistan --> Pakistan --> SE Asia (Heroin, 150 metric tons)
Afghanistan supplies 80 percent of the world's opium, and thus, 80 percent of its heroin. Almost half the opium cultivated in Afghanistan is trafficked through Pakistan, but Pakistan itself has few heroin users. The country tends to stick to funneling the drug through its territory, reaping the cash rewards of that trade. Pakistani traffickers operate a number of direct air (and sea) trafficking routes to Europe, according to the UNODC, mostly to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
2. Andean region --> USA (Cocaine, 140 metric tons)
North America accounted for more than 40 percent of global cocaine consumption in 2007 and 2008, while the countries in the EU and European Free Trade Association accounted for over 25 percent of consumption.
3. "The Balkan Route": Afghanistan --> Iran --> Turkey --> Southeast Europe --> Western Europe (Heroin, 105 metric tons)
Of the 105 metric tons that embarks on this route, only 37%, ends up in Europe. The rest is diverted from Iran to the Caucauses, or toward Africa.
Trends in heroin use indicate that the flow along this route is declining, as more of the supply flows toward the coastal markets of Africa. The number of heroin users in Africa increased by 54% between 2004 and 2008, according to the UNODC, which fears that a rise in IV drug use there could worsen an already severe HIV/AIDS epidemic.
4. "The Northern Route": Afghanistan --> Central Asia --> Russia --> Western Europe (Heroin, 95 metric tons)
The largest national market for Afghan heroin is the Russian Federation, and that market has rapidly expanded since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Reports indicate that Russia is there heroin is now doing its worst damage, including through the spread of HIV.
5. Andean region --> Europe (Cocaine, 60 metric tons)
Although cocaine use appears to be growing in developing countries, the vast bulk of the production is destined for two major overseas markets: North America (6.2 million users in 2008) and Europe (4 to 5 million users).
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Ed.'s note: In the Modern Diplomacy article published below, it is stated the "reemergence of poppy cultivation followed, as a result of high opium prices following the Taliban's prohibition of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan in 2001." That may be partially true, but only in so far as the amount of opium production increased to record levels after the US military invasion in 2003 directly effecting Pakistan as a major drug route out of the region. Back in 1985 the US was actually making progress towards helping Pakistan reduce opium production when the Gadoon-Amazai Area Development Project (GAADP) was introduced. A project that initiated alternative crops to replace poppy production. That has all changed dramatically because of political and geopolitical circumstances since 2003.
Leading up to the years between 1999 and 2000, opium production was near zero levels in Pakistan. Despite what western media sources reporting the drug trade "fuels terrorism," as of 2015 addiction to heroin kills an estimated 700 Pakistani addicts a day. That 700 figure is probably an exaggerated number but there is no doubt the devastating effects of the drug trade is taking a heavy toll. Attaching the "terrorism" aspect to the drug trade rationalizes drone strikes on Pakistan which the Pakistanis have suffered greatly from. The other aspect to attaching the drug trade to "terrorism" could be related to knocking off interlopers in the region competing with established and "sanctioned" drug routes. The US "war on terrorism" has taken a huge toll on the Pakistani people themselves when they and the Afghan people had absolutely nothing to do whatsoever with dropping buildings in New York in 2001.
Pakistan's current Prime Minister Imran Khan back in 2013 before he became prime minster, was leading demonstrations in Pakistan by blocking NATO supply routes into Pakistan on their way to Afghanistan to put pressure on the US to stop the drone strikes. There were ongoing peace talks between the Pakistanis and the Taliban and Imran Khan declared the US drone strikes were meant to sabotage these peace talks. The US has been targeting Taliban leaders who apparently are trying to negotiate cooperation and peace in the region calling Taliban (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan) leaders like Hakimullah Meshud "terrorists." Meshud was blasted to smithereens in a drone strike in 2013.
US-UK media sources referred to Meshud as a "ruthless leader" who was "responsible for attacking the CIA and a bloody campaign that killed thousands of Pakistanis." Where is the evidence that ever happened? After Hakimullah Meshud was killed in a drone strike, Mullah Fazlullah replaced Meshud. Fazullah refused to negotiate with Pakistan, was responsible for all kinds of chaos and killings in the region and shortly thereafter was also blasted to smithereens in a drone strike. The drone strikes were meant to undermine stability in the region. The instability continues for Pakistan as Pakistan's PM Inmar Khan works to negotiate a settlement with the Taliban.
The Consequences of Killing Hakimullah Mehsud
PM Imran Khan welcomes US-Taliban peace deal | Headlines 12 AM | 1 March 2020 | Aaj News
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Source: moderndiplomacy
An Overview of Drug Trafficking in Pakistan
July 24, 2019 | By Zaeem Hassan Mehmood
Pakistan's geographic location next to Afghanistan, the world's largest producer of illicit opium, places the country in a vulnerable position in terms of drug trafficking. The patterns of illicit drug production and distribution have seen transitions as a result of social, economic and political developments in the region. The cultivation of opium poppy declined to near zero levels in Pakistan from 1999 to 2000. The Government of Pakistan (GOP) is committed for eliminating opium poppy cultivation under "zero-tolerance policy". Together with alternative development projects funded by the international community, considerable decrease in poppy cultivation from approximately 9,441 ha. in 1992 to some 213 ha. in 2001 was witnessed. However, reemergence of poppy cultivation followed, as a result of high opium prices following the Taliban's prohibition of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan in 2001. The Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), the primary drug control agency in Pakistan collects and publishes annual statistics on drug related crime. ANF's conviction rate has improved over the last few years and stands at 8 percent since 2006.
Source: Drug Use in Pakistan 2013 Technical Report, UNODC
The bulk of opium produced in Afghanistan is cultivated in the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand, and enters Pakistan through the former Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA), now part of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and Balochistan. Trafficking through the KPK region is believed to have been intensified over the last decade, following the retreat of the political administration and the general lassitude of law enforcement agencies (LEAs) who have since then regained ground in the wake of military operations in the area. The proliferation of unofficial border crossings in KPK, and the strong familial and economic linkages amongst the tribespeople, who are known to move across the border with impunity, makes the transport of contraband easier.
Trafficking from Afghanistan to Balochistan is believed to take place through the Afghan provinces of Helmand and Nimroz to the Pakistani districts of Chaghi and Nushki. Here, the trafficking is facilitated by the remoteness and inaccessibility of these scantily populated regions. Once again, while there is only one official border crossing in Balochistan, in the town of Chaman near the provincial capital of Quetta, the border region is indifferently policed and easily traversed. Once in Pakistan, opium and heroin are normally stocked in border villages for a period of time before being sent to markets in major cities or on to international markets. Stocks are normally maintained in houses, where household members are often compensated for providing the service.
In Balochistan the Frontier Constabulary (FC) remains the most powerful force, remaining active on many fronts. A small proportion of the drugs smuggled into Pakistan are trafficked onward through Balochistan into Iran, from where it moves further west. The bulk of the consignments, however, also head for Pakistan's air and seaports, destined for China, South East Asia, Africa and Europe. While a proportion of the consignment for China is believed to be trafficked through land, via Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan region, seizures at China's seaports over the years indicate that the maritime route is key for trafficking into the urban centers of China in addition to other destinations.
In Pakistan, the first-stage beneficiaries of the drug trade are the "mules" or carriers of drugs from Afghanistan to Pakistan, and the manufacturers of garda and charas in Pakistan. The carriers are typically paid a negligible amount, and very often, are not aware of the contents of their consignment. Carriers entering Balochistan from Afghanistan typically operate on foot, or using donkeys, horses or livestock which can traverse the rocky terrain. Passage of drugs through mechanized transport is relatively rare here since the border area is largely a no-man's land with few discernible tracks. In Balochistan, drugs are transported through mountain passes on livestock or by foot, but the official border crossing of Torkham is also believed to be heavily utilized for transportation of larger consignments, with parcels being concealed in crates of fruit, sacks of agricultural produce and even in specially carved out cavities in vehicles.
Once the drugs enter Pakistan, they are typically stored in small amounts allegedly in private homes, often in remote villages. It is at this stage that the involvement of the organized traffickers begins, as the households who are involved in storage often include few members who are more closely involved in the drug trade, often as transporters or low-level henchmen working with bigger players. The more prominent actors rarely keep drug consignments on their premises, but prefer to pay a small fee to the households who assent to lend their homes for storage purposes. Stored stocks are transported to markets or for further trafficking overseas in small consignments. Heroin is believed to be transported, concealed, in smaller vehicles, while opium or more often hashish are transported in more bulky consignments, often utilizing larger vehicles such as trucks or oil tankers, which have been altered to concel the contraband. Transportation overland in Balochistan is typically more brazen, given the remoteness and low population density in the Baloch hinterland. According to a United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) 2013 Report, at this stage, the operation becomes more complex, and also more lucrative for those involved; covering transportation, bribing of LEA officials at every level (from the guards who man inter-provincial checkposts to mid-level or senior officials who are expected to turn a blind eye); recruitment of skilled packers; and recruitment of agents who can get consignments onto airborne or maritime vessels. A significant amount of trafficking also takes place through small towns on the Makran coast, where small boats evade Coast Guards to carry consignments into the high seas, for loading onto larger vessels.
Please go to moderndiplomacy to read the entire article.
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Ed.'s note: Pakistan PM Imran Khan if he moves to order the Pakistan military to stop the drug trade into Pakistan would bring the wrath of drug trade networks down on him who are profiting. Pakistan's former prime minster Nawaz Sharif who came up in the Panama Papers, was arrested on corruption charges. Sharif is currently in the UK while Pakistani authorities are pressing the UK to release him for extradition to Pakistan. Nawaz Sharif's closest aid, Hanif Abbasi was given a life sentence after a six year case involving Abbasi allegedly selling to drug smugglers 500kg of ephedrine (stimulant) which he obtained for his pharmaceutical company, Gray Pharmaceutical, in 2010. This life sentence for Sharif's closest aid brings into question Sherif's allegation the Pakistan army and its intelligence agency the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) were involved in the drug trade to fund the army's covert military operations outside of Pakistan mostly in Afghanistan.
There are many within the ranks of the Pakistan army and its intelligence agency ISI who know all about the "drug bonanza" that the US-backed "jihad" in Afghanistan had spawned in Pakistan during the 80s and 90s. The failure in Afghanistan by the UK-US alliance was destined to fail from the very beginning because of the drug trade out of Afghanistan. ISI itself has been involved in the drug trade and this is the biggest fear the ISI has is the possibility its networks could be revealed after the arrest of Jabir Motiwala. Motiwala is considered to be a "top lieutenant" of what is known as the D-company. "D-company" is a Mumbai, India media term ("D" for Dawood) for the Mumbai underworld crime syndicate. In 2018, Pakistani diplomats in London were making all-out efforts to prevent the extradition of Jabir Motiwala to the United States.
Motiwala, is one of the trusted aides of Dawood Ibrahim. Ibrahim is connected to the Mumbai underworld as a crime boss and drug lord fleeing India in the 1980s who is currently alleged to be living in Pakistan. Ibrahim is worth an estimated $7 billion with real estate holdings in Dubai. If Motiwala was extradited to the US from the UK, his interrogation would reveal much about the drug trade in Pakistan and possibly of Dawood Ibrahim's location. It is almost certain the UK has finished interrogating Motiwala for everything he knows of the drug trade before he is released to US authorities. As of February, 2020 Dawood Ibrahim's location is not known with Pakistan authorities insisting Ibrahim is not in Pakistan. As of ten days ago, the UK Home Department is expected to "green light" Motiwala's extradition to the US." It was the FBI that was able to insert three spies who got close to Motiwala where recordings were made into his operations of smuggling heroin the the US.
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Source: Afghanistan Times
Pakistan involved in drug trade to fund covert ops, Nawaz Sharif
May 25, 2018
Last week, Imran Khan, leader of Tehreek-e-Insaf, tweeted a Washington Post story in which Washington Post published an interview of Nawaz Sharif. This interview story was published in 1994. In this story, Nawaz Sharif claimed that Pakistan army is involved in heroin smuggling to the United States and some other countries. He claimed that Pakistan army smuggles drugs to pay the expenditures of its covert military operations.
Here is the full interview.
Pakistan's army chief and the head of its intelligence agency proposed a detailed "blueprint" for selling heroin to pay for the country's covert military operations in early 1991, according to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
In an interview, Sharif claimed that three months after his election as prime minister in November 1990, Gen. Aslam Beg, then army chief of staff, and Gen. Asad Durrani, then head of the military's Inter-Services Intelligence bureau (ISI), told him the armed forces needed more money for covert foreign operations and wanted to raise it through large-scale drug deals.
"General Durrani told me, 'We have a blueprint ready for your approval,'" said Sharif, who lost to Benazir Bhutto in elections last October and is now leader of the opposition in parliament.
"I was totally flabbergasted," Sharif said, adding that he called Beg a few days later to order the army officially not to launch the drug trafficking plan.
Beg, who retired in August 1991, denied Sharif's allegation, saying, "We have never been so irresponsible at any stage. Our politicians, when they're not in office and in the opposition, they say so many things. There's just no truth to it."
Durrani, now Pakistan's ambassador to Germany, said: "This is a preposterous thing for a former prime minister to say. I know nothing about it. We never ever talked on this subject at all."
Brig. Gen. S.M.A. Iqbal, a spokesman for the armed forces, said, "It's inconceivable and highly derogatory; such a thing could not happen."
The interview with Sharif, conducted at his home in Lahore in May, was part of a broad investigation into narcotics trafficking in Pakistan. It marked the first time a senior Pakistani official has publicly accused the country's military of having contingency plans to pay for covert operations through drug smuggling.
Officials with the U.S. State Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration said they have no evidence that Pakistan's military is or ever has been involved in drug trafficking. But U.S. and other officials have often complained about the country's weak efforts to curtail the spread of guns, money laundering, official corruption and other elements of the deep-rooted drug culture in Pakistan, which along with Afghanistan and Iran lies along the so-called Golden Crescent, one of the world's biggest drug-producing regions.
Please go to Afghanistan Times to read the entire article.
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Ed.'s note: In 2018, Tereza Hluskova who was a model from the Czech Republic was sentenced to eight years and eight months after she was convicted of drug trafficking. Some 8.5kg (19lbs) of heroin was discovered inside statues in Hluskova's luggage as she prepared to board a flight from Lahore, Pakistan to Dubai en route to Dublin. She "didn't know 8.5kg of heroin was in her baggage?"
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It is easier to get in and out of Pakistan than it is Afghanistan and there is a constant flow of drug mules moving between Pakistan and the UK. It is a constant flow of heroin out of Pakistan into the Netherlands and the UK.
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When the CIA targets countries like Pakistan for destabilization, they will first accuse people in government of being involved in the drug trade. In the case of Pakistan just like all the other countries in the region this is a correct assessment, however, if any intelligence agency in the world is involved in the drug trade it is the CIA (see: The Real Drug Lords and MI6 Are The Lords of The Global Drug Trade). They would have all the tools at their disposal including "drugs funding terrorists" accusation to go after countries targeted for destabilization and the drug accusation works every time. The "war on terrorism" is synonymous with control of the incredibly lucrative drug trade.
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The "founder of the heroin drug trade" in Pakistan Ayub Afridi (deceased 2009) and his fortress (Ayub Afridi village). The CIA's connection to the Mujahideen when guns and supplies were moved through Ayub Afridi's drug routes into Afghanistan to fight the Soviets. The US turned on him and arrested him in 1995.
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