“The drugs come from Iran, then they are sold at the Saudi border. Smugglers are young and they use motorcycles or animals to cross the desert late at night.” According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Afghanistan’s opium production soared to 8,200 tonnes in 2007 from 6,100 tonnes the year before, accounting for 93 per cent of global production."The trade is really global as well since its Iranians and Syrians that are doing this trade. The deterioration of security that allowed this happen has global impact because these drugs from Afghanistan and other places will get to South America and feed into the Mexican drug war. Cutting off one link would make it harder for drugs to come in and out of places.
What will be interesting to see is what will happen once US soldiers leave Iraq and go into Afghanistan, will the geographic differences help or hinder the trade? Since so much of it comes from Afghanistan, will stopping it at the source help? Given the fact that they are unable to secure Iraq with the massive amount of money already poured in, I doubt that they can secure the hills of Afghanistan.
It is interesting to note that a lot of this comes after the fall of Saddam Hussein;
Officials say that the incentive to catch drug smugglers waned sharply after Saddam Hussein was toppled more than five years ago. Beforehand customs officers were offered market rates for uncovering contraband.While Saddam did a lot of bad things, his control over everything made the country run more smoothly and the strong central government helped stability. Without people knowing how to run the country before the invasion, it would make a lot of sense why certain things that did not happen before now start to happen. Perhaps with some re-introduction of Baath party members, certain incentives can help restore Iraq. Yet, that political option is not popular with American politicians.
