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United-Nations drugs office congratulates Afghan police on hashish seizure |
VIENNA (AFP) — The UN Office on Drugs and Crime congratulated Afghan police on Thursday for seizing 237 tonnes of hashish in a raid this week.
| "This is a massive seizure, and a major success for counter-narcotics in Afghanistan" said UNODC executive director Antonio Maria Costa.
"Notorious for being the world's biggest producer of opium, Afghanistan has also become a major source of cannabis resin," Costa said in a statement. 
Air-Ordinance controller guides the harriers into bomb the drugs cache
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UNODC estimates that some 70,000 hectares of cannabis were grown in Afghanistan last year, up from 50,000 in 2006 and 30,000 in 2005.
That suggested Afghanistan appeared to be overtaking Morocco as the world's top cannabis grower, where the multi-billion dollar cannabis harvest has halved between 2003 and 2006.
"The international community needs to provide more support to curb Afghanistan's drug problem," Costa said as an international conference in support of Afghanistan got underway in Paris.
The Afghan interior ministry had said Wednesday that Afghan anti-narcotics police had seized 237 tonnes of hashish in a raid believed to be the biggest haul of its kind in the world.
The hashish was seized in the Taliban-heavy Spin Boldak district of southern Kandahar province on Monday.
The NATO-led force in Afghanistan said the drug stash was worth around 400 million dollars and that the seizure would hamper the Taliban's ability to fund the purchase of weapons through the narcotics trade.
"To our knowledge, this was the biggest drug seizure in the world," said deputy interior minister Abdul Hadi Khalid.
Khalid said the drugs were found hidden in multiple trenches and that all 236.8 tonnes were burned in the trenches later the same day.
Another five tonnes of opium was seized in southern Helmand province over the weekend, he added.
Sixteen people, including four Iranians and seven Pakistanis, have been arrested in connection with the stash.
UNODC chief Costa welcomed the decision by the UN Security Council on Wednesday to adopt a resolution calling on all UN Member States to tighten international and regional controls on the manufacture and trade of the chemical needed to make heroin, and prevent their diversion to illicit markets.
"This should make heroin production a riskier business," Costa said.
He also urged member states to list, freeze the assets, and ban the travel of individuals and entities participating in the financing of extremist activities using proceeds derived from the production and trafficking of narcotic drugs and their precursors.
"Drugs are financing terrorism and insurgency in Afghanistan. The Security Council has created a list, but there are still no names on it. I urge governments to come forward with the names and evidence needed to bring the most wanted drug traffickers to justice," Costa said.
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