Afghan opium crop soars to "frightening levels": UN

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Afghan opium crop soars to "frightening levels": UN
Mon Aug 27, 2007 10:44AM EDT

By Jon Hemming

KABUL (Reuters) - Opium production has soared to
"frightening record levels" in Afghanistan, which
now has more land producing drugs than Columbia,
Bolivia and Peru combined, the United Nations said
on Monday.

Afghanistan is locked in a vicious circle where drug
money feeds both the Taliban insurgency and official
corruption which in turn weaken the government's
hold of large parts of the country and allows more
opium to be produced.

-snip-

Afghanistan produced 93 percent of the world's opium
in 2007, up from 92 percent last year, the annual
UNODC report said.

"No other country has produced narcotics on such a
deadly scale since China in the 19th century," a
UNODC statement said.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSISL20749120070827

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Source: BBC News

Last Updated: Monday, 27 August 2007, 14:50 GMT 15:50 UK

Afghanistan opium at record high

By Alastair Leithead
BBC News, Kabul

The UN says opium production in Afghanistan has soared
to record levels, with an increase on last year of more
than a third.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime report says the amount
of opium produced there has doubled in the last two years.

It says Helmand province is now the biggest single drug-
producing area in the world, surpassing whole countries
such as Colombia.

Afghanistan now accounts for more than 93% of the
world's opiates.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6965115.stm