Iran steps up war on drugs as neighbouring Afghanistan’s opium trade booms

TAIBAD, Iran // In the face of Afghanistan’s unprecedented boom in opium production, neighbouring Iran is trying to baton down its border to slow down smuggling, building moats, walls and other large-scale projects.

Iran spent more than US$26 million last year alone on the border projects, which also include large embankments, new border posts and lengths of barbed wire along parts of its 2,000-kilometre border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“The transit of narcotics is a complicated issue. Smugglers are wealthy. They change tactics and use modern equipment that makes it more and more difficult to discover. We need new, modern equipment to combat drugs effectively,” said Gen Ali Moayedi, Iran’s anti-narcotics police chief, during a recent tour of the border.

Neighbouring Afghanistan has all the makings of a narco-state and is the main source of drugs coming into Iran and headed to other markets in Europe and the United States.

Last year, 209,000 hectares of poppies were planted across Afghanistan, up 36 per cent from the year before. They produced an estimated 5,500 metric tons of opium, according to the United Nations drug agency.

By comparison, only a little over 7,000 hectares of poppy field were eradicated.

The 2014 harvest is expected to match or even exceed last year’s record.

In coming years, opium will grab an even larger share of Afghanistan’s already troubled economy, as money from US military contracts and aid work dries up. The UN estimates that some 200,000 families in Afghanistan are involved in opium production and that the country has about 1 million addicts.

As a share of Afghanistan’s economy, opium looms large. The UN estimates the potential gross value of Afghan opiates last year was around $3 billion – or 15 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product.

“In 2013, we confiscated 573 tons of various kinds of narcotics from drug smugglers, showing a 14 per cent increase compared to 2012,” Ali Reza Jazini, a senior Iranian counter-narcotics official, told foreign diplomats when they visited Iran’s border with Afghanistan.

The tour, which included Tehran-based diplomats from 14 countries and the UN, was part of an effort by Iran to demonstrate the effort it is making in the fight against drug smuggling.

Iran lies on a major drug route between Afghanistan, Europe and Gulf states. Every year, it burns about 100 tons of seized narcotics as a symbol of its determination to fight drugs.

Gen Mohammad Kazem Taqavi, the local border police chief, said his forces clashed with armed drug smugglers the day before the tour in this border town.

“Some 50 kilograms of narcotics were seized, one of the smugglers was killed and their weapons and equipment were confiscated,” he said.

In the past 30 years, 3,734 Iranian border guards have been killed and more than 12,000 wounded in clashes with smugglers.

The UN provided special equipment to Iran to detect drugs hidden in tight and closed spaces like a vehicle’s fuel tank.

Gen Taqavi said more equipment was needed, along with more international help.

Iran has also complained that it is being accused of violating human rights by hanging convicted drug smugglers, who make up 73 per cent of those executed annually in Iran. Some Iranian officials have suggested that the Islamic Republic should allow transit of narcotics through its territory if it is going to be criticised for hanging convicted drug smugglers.

Mr Jazini said Iran’s policy of fighting drug smuggling will remain unchanged.

“It’s against Islamic teachings and our policy to allow transit of illicit drugs through our territory. We will continue to fight drug smuggling even if there is no global contribution,” he said.

Friedrich Stift, the Austrian ambassador, acknowledged there was a lack of support but said the political climate had changed after moderate President Hassan Rouhani took office last year.

“Iran is protecting its own population by combating drug trafficking. However, it is indirectly doing the job for us. We appreciate Iran’s efforts,” he said. “With change of political climate, the way is being paved for greater global contribution to Iran’s fight against narcotics.”

* Associated Press