US drug war
The series of air strikes against several drug laboratories in Afghanistan by US F-22 Raptor jets and B-52 bombers last Sunday signaled the start of an intensified campaign to stop the production of opium, which has become a major source of funding for the Taliban. Army General John Nicholson, commander of the US forces in Afghanistan, said there are about 500 drug laboratories actively operating in Afghanistan, and confirmed that the air strikes will continue against identified targets as part of the new strategy to “hit the Taliban where it hurts, in their narcotics financing.”
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Afghanistan has become the world’s single biggest source of opium – used to manufacture heroin – with production reaching record highs this year estimated at 9,000 metric tons or an increase of 87 percent from last year. The heroin trade has become very lucrative, with the UNODC estimating the value of the global heroin trade at $55 billion per year.
Intelligence sources confirm that the Taliban derives 60 percent of its funding from the opium trade. But apparently, the terrorist organization is no longer content with just providing security to drug smugglers and manufacturers, because it is now involved in every aspect of the trade from the growing of poppy seeds to the production, processing and smuggling of opium (mostly in the form of syrup) – practically behaving like a drug cartel.
Both the US and the Philippines share the same similarities and understanding about the gravity of the problem concerning illegal drugs and how it has become intertwined with terrorism. The connection between illegal drugs and terrorism was highlighted by President Duterte during the recent ASEAN summit where he also urged the leaders to unite in the fight against these twin threats to the security not only of the region but the rest of the world.
Obviously, the attack against Marawi by the ISIS-affiliated Maute and Abu Sayyaf terrorist groups presented clear proof of the drugs-terrorism connection, with the discovery of hundreds of millions worth of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) discovered in a house identified as a Maute stronghold. In fact, Afghan president Ashraf Ghani admitted that without illegal drugs, the war in Afghanistan would have been over a long time ago.
The fact is, the United States is facing a very serious drug problem – an opioid epidemic actually that led President Trump to declare it a nationwide public health emergency. Many even believe that America is facing its worst drug crisis in history, with an estimated 100 Americans dying everyday because of opium abuse and overdose. The White House Council of Economic Advisers also said the opioid crisis cost the US economy an estimated $504 billion in 2015, equivalent to 2.8 percent of gross domestic product on the same year.
Last August, the US Drug Enforcement Agency also disclosed that 2018 will likely see the United States experiencing the highest levels of cocaine supply and usage in a decade as a consequence of Colombia’s decision to sign a peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC because the Colombian government “eased eradication operations in areas controlled by the FARC to lessen conflict during peace negotiations.” A year after the peace deal, cocaine production in Colombia has reached record high levels.
No wonder President Trump warned Colombia – the biggest source of cocaine in the US – that it has to improve its efforts to reduce coca cultivation and cocaine production, and adhere to its obligations under international counter-narcotics agreements. Early this November, Colombian authorities made their biggest drug bust ever when they seized over 12 tons of US-bound cocaine valued at $360 million. With the help of “friendly countries” that provided intelligence, Colombian authorities conducted simultaneous raids in four farms where packs of cocaine wrapped in banana leaves were stored underground.
America’s war on drugs goes as far back as 1971 during the time of Richard Nixon who declared drug abuse as “public enemy number one” and called for an “all-out offensive,” subsequently increasing federal funding for drug control and treatment. This also paved the way for the creation of the US Drug Enforcement Agency in 1973. Over the years, other presidents have continued the effort to combat illegal drugs use and abuse.
However, it is clear that the problem of illegal drugs has now become global, made worse by terrorism largely on account of the symbiotic relationship developed between drug manufacturers and terrorist groups. According to a 2015 US State Department report, “traffickers provide weapons, funding and other material support to the insurgency in exchange for the protection of drug trade routes, cultivation fields, laboratories and trafficking organizations.”
What’s important at this point is for everyone to recognize the enormity of the drug problem which is no longer confined to just one country but has become a global concern, threatening the security of nations and most of all, the very lives of people.
* * * I am now in Washington, D.C. to begin my work as the Philippine Ambassador to the United States, and so my Sunday columns will be generally about the work being done in D.C. and the rest of the US, news about Filipino-Americans, their activities and the issues affecting them, and other developments that impact relations between our country and the United States, one of the oldest and perhaps our most important ally.
Our relationship with the United States has improved significantly after the recent Trump visit in Manila. We are of course looking forward to working closely with the excellent Philippine Embassy staff that we have in Washington, D.C.
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