The Taliban's Hidden Stash of Heroin (Opium)

According to a new Time piece, the Taliban might be hiding as much as $3.2 billion worth of opium inside Afghanistan:

"According to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, between 6,000 and 8,000 tons of opium have vanished during the past three years somewhere between the poppy fields of Afghanistan — which produce about 93% of the world's opium — and the world market. That's enough to supply all the world's heroin addicts for nearly two years. The whereabouts of the missing opium is a mystery so far, but international drug- and law-enforcement agencies say they believe the Taliban has begun to stockpile large quantities of the drug, which is worth about $464,000 per ton once it is exported from Afghanistan."

But why? Here's what the piece goes on to say:

"It might sound like good news that so much opium has disappeared from the world drug market, but Costa believes the missing opium is a potential time bomb, and many law-enforcement officials agree. That's because the Taliban is believed to be "stockpiling to control the prices," says a spokesman for Britain's Serious Organized Crime Agency, who confirmed that NATO forces have uncovered Taliban stockpiles of opium." "This is classic market manipulation," Costa says."

The good news is that heroin use is on the decline in the U.S. and Europe. The bad news? It's a growing problem in Russia and China--the last two countries I want addled by that shite, as a matter of Global Security. And the thought of such a huge stash of heroin in the hands of the Taliban concerns me.

And I've never forgiven Heroin, you see, for taking Elliot Smith away...

Read the Time article here: http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1854660,00.html