[Shadow_Group] Afghanistan's poppy crop jumps 239 per cent

[shadowgroup-l at lists.resist.ca]

Afghanistan's poppy crop jumps 239 per cent
The United States says it expected Afghanistan's
illicit poppy crop to jump by an alarming 239 per cent
over the past year.
Last Update: Saturday, November 20, 2004. 11:11am
(AEDT)

FROM:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200411/s1247817.htm<http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200411/s1247817.htm>
"Current cultivation levels equate to a potential
production of 4,950 tonnes of opium," the Office of
National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) said. 

"This represents a 239 per cent increase in the poppy
crop and a 73 per cent increase in potential opium
production over 2003 estimates." 

It says that the estimates were based on a sample
survey of Afghan agricultural regions conducted with
US Government satellite imaging systems.

It says that poor growing conditions are the main
reason that expected opium production is not
proportional to the increase in cultivation. 

The office says it estimated poppy cultivation in
Afghanistan for 2004 to cover 206,700 hectares - a
massive rise from 61,000 in 2003 and 30,750 in 2002.

The Taliban, which was overthrow in 2002 for
harbouring Al Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden,
had taken some steps against Afghanistan's poppy
production. 

The office estimates Afghanistan's total production of
opium from the poppies cultivated in 2004 to be 4,950
tonnes or the equivalent of about 582 tonnes of
heroin.

It says the United States, along with Britain, would
continue to boost eradication efforts. 

"Attacking the drug trade is a key step toward
establishing the stability and freedom that are the
aspiration of every Afghan man and women," ONDCP
director John Walters said.

"In the world's 'newest democracy,' a nation
increasingly governed by laws, there is simply no
place for drug traffickers."



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