Pakistan and Narco-Trafficking: A Protracted Global Challenge

Abstract

The ecosystem of organised crime, drug trafficking, money laundering, and arms smuggling thrives in areas with a governance deficit. The Af-Pak region is the epicentre of this activity. In May this year, European law enforcement agencies from multiple countries conducted coordinated raids on several establishments. The arrests and material seized during these raids demonstrated the close nexus between the narco trade and illicit weapon trafficking from Pakistan to South America.¹ In March 2021, an Egyptian court sentenced seven Pakistani citizens to death for smuggling two tons of heroin via the Red Sea.² A vast network supported by the deep state and influential individuals is required to run such worldwide operations. Increasing production of different psychoactive substances in the Af-Pak region indicates a presence of a robust network that continues to benefit from the narcotics trade. The neighbouring countries like India, Iran, UAE and Central Asian Republics are trying to tackle this issue. The Taliban also banned opium cultivation in Afghanistan. By pointing to investments in improved border controls and enacting new laws, Pakistan claims to have prioritised counter-narcotics and anti-money laundering. However, it is imperative to critically evaluate Pakistan’s role and map the shifting trajectories of narco trade emanating from the Af-Pak region.

Keywords: Narcotics, Narco-trafficking, Pakistan, Afghanistan, UNODC, FATF

Background

In 2019 Pakistan introduced a revised ‘National Anti-narcotics Policy (NAP)’, aiming to tackle the increasing heroin supply from Afghanistan, the emergence of new drug trafficking routes, and psychoactive (synthetic drugs) substances.³ Earlier, such a policy was launched in 2010 to achieve similar goals.⁴ On both occasions, Pakistan Parliament introduced amendments to its ‘Control of Narcotic Substances Act (1997)’.⁵ Even in 1997, when the Control of Narcotic Substances Act was passed, Pakistan was already under the watch of FATF⁶ and US pressure to implement counter-narcotics measures⁷. In 2010, the government established an Inter-Agency Task Force on Narcotics Control, bringing all security agencies and excise departments together and was led by Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), a nodal agency to handle narcotics-related issues.⁸ Similarly, in 2020 and 2022, the government, under presidential order, passed Control of Narcotics Substances (Amendment) Acts which were focused on anti-money laundering⁹ and punishments for narco offenders¹⁰. Notably, Pakistan was on FATF grey list from 2008-2010 and 2018-2022.¹¹ More recently National Assembly of Pakistan passed the National Anti-Money Laundering, Counter Financing of Terrorism Authority Bill 2023 and six other legislations which would help the country stay out of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Grey List.¹² However, the enactment of these laws and ANF failed to produce any results. Subsequently, Pakistan emerged as one of the major producers of cannabis, synthetic drugs, and a gateway for Afghan opium/heroin.

A fairly large number of states have to endure the challenge of dealing with the issue of narcotics. Some states are sites of production, many provide transit, and most states have consumers of narcotics substances. The ability of governance and law enforcement of each state is different. Still, the increased production of psychoactive substances and consumer base across the world indicates that, at some level, many of them are struggling to control addiction. Pakistan has significant parts of its territory that are poorly governed, particularly in the Pashtun, Baloch, and Sindh tribal regions. The governing establishment in the country is corrupt. While Pakistan has fertile land, its economy is weak. Because of its prime geographical location, Pakistan is a significant player in the narcotics business.

Pakistan was declared poppy free in 2000¹³, redirecting focus towards Afghanistan, which emerged as the world’s largest producer of opium¹⁴. During the last few decades, increasing production of opium in Afghanistan has been a major concern, and it is often discussed in great detail at almost all Afghan-centric multi-lateral meetings. The thoroughly researched assessments published by the UNODC also point to growing disquiet in the international community with opium production in Afghanistan. Noted expert Barnett Rubin and Jake Sherman observes that “the initial links (for rapid expansion of drug industry in Afghanistan) came through traffickers in Pakistan”.¹⁵

Afghanistan is considered an important source of narcotics production, making it the most visible and quickly acted upon aspect of the narcotics ecosystem. Therefore, just in the last two decades, the US alone had spent nine billion dollars on the opium eradication program in Afghanistan.¹⁶ On the contrary, the production continued to increase along with the surge of opioids. The producers, Afghan farmers, largely remained poor while profit was made by Afghan drug lords with value addition by investing in heroin production labs. The real profits were made by smugglers and suppliers from Pakistan, who often remain in the shadows (ref. Figure 1). Afghanistan being a pariah landlocked State, Pakistan’s intermediaries used the opportunity to become a gateway of refined heroin, methamphetamine, and other synthetic drugs.

Figure 1: Distribution of Value Addition of Heroin, Source: UNDCP Facing the Challenge 1997¹⁷

Since the fall of the Afghanistan Republic Government in August 2021, the Taliban regime has been trying to consolidate its hold on the country.¹⁸ The initial assessment was that Pakistan achieved its longstanding goal to establish strategic depth in Afghanistan by putting the Taliban in Kabul. However, achieving strategic depth is proving to be elusive.¹⁹ The measures taken by Pakistan to improve border control on Durand Line²⁰ and the ban on poppy cultivation by the Taliban,²¹ some reports claim, may have resulted in an immediate substantial drop in opium production.²² It is unclear whether these policies will be successful in the long term as the demand side of narcotics keeps rising.

History of Drug Trade in Pakistan

The Pashtun tribal belt of Pakistan (earlier North West Frontier of India) and Afghanistan have been a source and transit for opiates and cannabis for centuries. In his paper published in the October 1996 edition of Asian Survey, Pakistani scholar Ikramul Haq extensively covered the historical aspect.²³ He blamed the geopolitical circumstances for the growth in global heroin supply from the Af-Pak region during the 80s and 90s.²⁴ Then, with the help of Pakistan, the CIA was providing covert support to Mujahidins who were fighting against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. However, some of these groups, including Gulbuddin Hekmateyar’s Hizb-e-Islami – a favored group of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) – were cultivating poppy. During this period, Pakistani narco-traffickers, with the support of state patronage, established connections with the world market.²⁵

During and after²⁶ Zia-Ul-Haq’s regime in Pakistan, most of the state apparatus, including the Army, started benefiting from the Narco trade. In 1986 two Pakistan military officers Maj. Zahooruddin Afridi and Lt. Khairur Rehman were arrested with 900 pounds of heroin but escaped from custody.²⁷ In another case, a Pakistani fixture of the US DEA office in Islamabad Ayyaz Baluch, in 1997, tipped off his employer about Pakistani Air Force pilots smuggling USD 160,000 worth of heroin. Mr Baluch was abducted within days after this incident by Pakistan intelligence agencies. Madeleine K. Albright raised the issue during her visit to Pakistan, which was the first visit of any American Secretary of State in almost a decade.²⁸ Initially, the Western drug enforcement agencies neglected the involvement of the Pakistani state in the narcotics trade as winning Cold War was the primary task at hand. The rise in opioid usage in the United States and other Western countries raised concerns as it was discovered that Pakistan was responsible for 50% of the heroin being imported into the US and 85% into Western Europe. On October 1994, Mr Frank Pallone, Jr, a US congressman in the House of Representatives, stated:

“a country that produces 70 tons of heroin annually and accounts for a significant part of the heroin consumed in the United States is a matter of concern under any circumstances. That a part of the same country’s intelligence establishment can conceive blueprints to use profits from smuggling these drugs to support insurgency and export terror is a fact that we ignore at our own peril.”²⁹

This statement was in reference to the 1994 Washington Post Article, which quoted Nawaz Sharif saying, “Gen. Aslam Beg, then army chief of staff, and Gen. Asad Durrani, then head of the ISI, told him the armed forces needed more money for covert foreign operations and wanted to raise it through large-scale drug deals.”³⁰ Eventually, the US agencies and the FATF started building pressure on Pakistan. In response, Pakistan has extended the Anti-Narcotics Force Act to the Pashtun Tribal areas.³¹ Initially, it resulted in clashes between poppy farmers and police. Pakistan approved a five-year drug control master plan for 1998-2003 and passed the Control of Narcotic Substances Act-1997.³² With all these efforts on paper, Pakistan eradicated poppy cultivation and was declared a poppy-free state in 2000. Technically it wasn’t poppy-free, as many farmers were continuing cultivation in remote parts of North West Frontiers³³, and most of the production shifted to Afghanistan along with heroin refineries.³⁴ This shift benefitted the Pakistan-based smugglers as their networks did not get disrupted. More importantly, the attention of international counter-narcotics agencies switched to Afghanistan. Keeping track of the narcotic supply chain for the international community became difficult as the production and distribution networks got bifurcated. The FATF report on financial flows linked to Afghan opiates in 2014 noted, “detailed and reliable information regarding this issue (cartels) remains limited, and this can be considered a key information gap.”³⁵

The transportation of narcotics carries a significant amount of risk, which is where the true value of the narcotics business lies. Interestingly, despite considerable evidence of narcotics transiting through the country, the number of narcotics seizures is comparatively very low in Pakistan than in Iran and other Central Asian Republics (ref. Graph 1).

Graph 1: Distribution of quantities of heroin and morphine seized, by main trafficking routes, 2010-2020, Source: UNODC World Drug Report 2022

On the other hand, the Pakistani government received counternarcotics assistance from the UNODC, UK, and the US.³⁶ The Pakistan-based cartels are involved in multiple illegal activities such as, the smuggling of opium and heroin of Afghan origin, the production of synthetic drugs and cannabis, the smuggling of chemicals for heroin labs like Acetic Anhydride (AA), running narcotic distribution networks within the country, and importantly, money laundering.

Af-Pak Dynamics in Narco Smuggling

Traditionally the majority of the poppy crop is cultivated in the fertile valley of Helmand River and some in Kandahar, near Pakistan and Iranian borders. Since 2001 the area has been under the control of the Taliban for most of the period, and before that, under Mujahidin groups supported by Pakistan. With the increase in the production of opium and cannabis, fairly large number of Pakistanis are involved in trafficking. As per the UNODC, 42 per cent of the opiates that exited Afghanistan transited through Pakistan.³⁷ Iran reported that 90 per cent of Morphine and 85 per cent of the heroin seized on its territory in 2018 had been trafficked via Pakistan, and a very small percentage had been smuggled directly through Afghanistan.³⁸ Similar statements were repeated in most of the UNODC reports except during the phase of intense confrontation between the Western coalition and the Taliban in 2001-2002, which was concentrated in southern Afghanistan.³⁹ During this period, smugglers probably preferred the northern route through Central Asia, as it was comparatively safer, but by 2003 they switched back to the traditional route via Pakistan and Iran. Heroin smuggled through Iran and further Balkan routes are destined for Eastern Europe. While larger shipments trafficked through the Indian Ocean are sold in East Africa, West Africa, Oceania, and West Europe. Earlier Pakistani smugglers were also involved in shipping Afghan heroin to Russia, but their share has decreased since 2017 (ref. Map 1).⁴⁰

Map 1: Heroin trafficking along the southern route, Source: UNODC report on Analysis of Opiate Stamps Seized in the Indian Ocean 2017-2021⁴¹ (Map not to scale)

Pakistan: A Narco State

Pakistan is also a significant market for Pakistani drug traffickers. Reports over the years indicate high levels of consumption of narcotic substances in Pakistan. For instance, in 2012, the UNODC, in collaboration with the Government of Pakistan, published a special report on ‘Drug use in Pakistan’, and it suggested that approximately 6.7 million people had used controlled substances such as Cannabis (4 million users), heroin ( 860,000 users), and opium (320,000 users).⁴² Accounting for the users of synthetic drugs like Methamphetamine, the number reached 27 million in 2021.⁴³ In July 2023, Police arrested an official of the Islamia University of Bahawalpur (IUB) on drug charges, including the university’s chief of security.⁴⁴ According to the survey conducted in 2022-23, every tenth student in Pakistan education institutes suffers from substance addiction.⁴⁵

Terrorism, Pakistan, and Drug Trafficking

In addition to corrupt elements of state apparatus and smugglers who are involved in the drug trade in Pakistan, highly radicalised terrorist organisations, actively participate in this business. James Soils, the Deputy Chief of Operations at the US Drug Enforcement Administration, at the congressional hearing on ‘Afghanistan after the US withdrawal in December 2014’, said that:

“DEA has linked 22 of the 59 foreign terrorist organisations to drug trafficking. One-quarter of those foreign terrorist organisations that have been linked to drug trafficking operate in or are associated with Afghanistan and/or Pakistan.”⁴⁶

Numerous incidents highlighted the link between terrorist organisations and the narco trade. For instance, in September 2022, the Counter Terrorism Department of Pakistan killed four suspected Jamaatul Ahrar terrorists and seized 27 kilograms of fine-quality heroin from the truck they were travelling.⁴⁷

The Taliban also facilitated opium smuggling and provided safe passage to the traffickers from the areas they were in control.⁴⁸ In return, they received tax payments from the smugglers. There is no accurate estimation of how much money Taliban receives, but UNODC and other reports suggest it should be in the range of USD 100-400 million/year.⁴⁹ It has been reported that this money was given to the Taliban leadership, operating from Pakistani cities such as Quetta and Peshawar. Since much of the transportation of the narcotics was done by the Pakistani-based groups, they played a key role in sustaining the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan for almost 20 years.

Just not Drugs

Besides the smuggling of psychoactive substances, another major element of this supply chain involving Pakistan-based smugglers is Acetic Anhydride (AA), a chemical required to synthesise heroin. The chemical is generally used for photographic film, coated materials, the production of aspirin, wood preservative, and modified starches.⁵⁰ But considering its increasing use in heroin labs, almost all countries strictly supervise its production or import.⁵¹ Pakistan has large textile and tanning industry and well-established pharmaceutical companies, which requires a sizeable amount of AA. However, because of the lax regulatory regime, it becomes difficult to track how much of the legally imported AA is smuggled further to Afghanistan for heroin labs even it is imported after obtaining NOC from the

Ministry of Narcotics Control and Federal Board of Revenue.⁵² The real value of AA produced for industrial purposes is USD 2-3 for a litre, while in the black market, it goes to USD 300-400.⁵³ To produce refined 1 kg of heroin requires 2-2.5ltrs of AA.⁵⁴

Graph 2: Seizures of Acetic anhydride in Pakistan from 2010-2019. Source: International Narcotics Control Board⁵⁵

Between 2008 and 2011, approximately 36 tons of illicit AA were seized in Pakistan, but in the first two months of 2016 alone, authorities seized two consignments of 38 tons (ref. Graph 2)⁵⁶. The first consignment in 2016 arrived from China via Tanzania, and the second from Hong Kong.⁵⁷ Karachi Port serves main entry point for overseas shipment of AA (ref. Map 2). Due to the ease of availability of such chemicals, the production of synthetic drugs has increased in Pakistan in the last decade. The 2021 UNODC report noted that “the quantity of Methamphetamine seized in Pakistan in 2020 more than doubled compared with 2019”.⁵⁸ The Narcotics Control Bureau of India seized 2,525 kg of high-purity methamphetamine off the coast of Kochi in May 2023. The estimated market value of the consignment was INR 25,000 (USD 303 million) crore, and according to the reports, the source of it was the Pakistan-based Haji Salim drug cartel.⁵⁹

Map 2: Seizure of AA in and Around Afghanistan as reported to UNODC 2010-2017 (Map not to scale)

Pakistan, Drugs and Money Laundering

To launder huge illicit sums requires an efficient underground network of financers who provides Money or Value Transfer Services (MVTS), and they are the most critical resource in this business. Pakistan and the UAE are this region’s main transaction centres for narco-traffickers. Unlike Iran and Afghanistan, Pakistan is well connected to the international banking and Hawala systems and has a sizable diaspora in the US, Europe, and West Asia. Due to weak investigation capacity and border controls, limited engagements with the neighbouring jurisdictions along the supply chain and inadequate monitoring make Pakistan a haven for illicit transactions. There is minimal information sharing between Pakistan-Iran-UAE on cash couriers.⁶⁰

Previously, Pakistan did not prioritise Anti-money Laundering and Counter-terrorism Financing (AML/CFT )and as a result, it was added to FATF’s increased monitoring list three times since 2008. While Pakistan enacted legislation to comply with the FATF checklist, it has failed to implement them effectively. Even after being cleared through the FATF Grey list in 2022, reports have emerged that USD 5 million/day in cash was smuggled across Pakistan to Afghanistan.⁶¹ According to the World Bank report in 2014, “percentages of drug-related funds as a percentage of the total funds transferred through provincial hawala markets were as follows: Badakhshan 100 %, Kandahar and Helmand – 80-90%, Balkh – 60%, Herat – 30%.”⁶² Out of these five provinces, Kandahar, Helmand, and Badakhshan share a border with Pakistan and are also major producers of opium. Although Herat and Balkh are major financial hubs located on the borders of Iran and Uzbekistan, less funds are transferred to these regions.

Money launderers employ a complex modus operandi to convert drug money to legal investment, and such transactions involve the financial systems of multiple states. For example, “payments for drug orders from London routed to Afghan partners in UAE and Pakistan, where the money is reinvested or used to settle other transactions, or it is paid to Turkish organised crime groups who may pay to Iran or Pakistan based drug traffickers in high-value commodities such as gold or oil.”⁶³ Sometimes, drug lords invest in real estate and corporate stock purchases to bypass the physical transfer of cash flow and commodities.

In 2019 Muhammed Khalid Khan, a Pakistani drug kingpin, was arrested from Nigeria and extradited to the US on charges of attempting to send hundreds of kilograms of heroin for distribution in New York City and laundering money into the United States.⁶⁴ In the last two decades, the DEA has arrested many Pakistani citizens under charges of drug trafficking and money laundering, such as father and son duo Muzaffar Khan Afridi and Alamdar Khan Afridi from Thailand (2005),⁶⁵ Gulam Hussein from Kenya (2014)⁶⁶, Shahbaz Khan from Liberia (2016)⁶⁷ and Saleem Khan from Kansas City (2020)⁶⁸. Each of these arrests unearthed stories of how these multinational drug conglomerates run their businesses and their linkages with Pakistan. Money laundering is a shadow business, and with the introduction of new technologies, cryptocurrencies, and shell companies, it has become easier to launder illicit money, unlike bulky cash or commodity transfers.

Conclusion: Pakistan and the Future of Narco Trafficking

The Cold War is often regarded as a catalyst for transforming the Af-Pak region into a centre for producing and transporting narcotics. The involvement of Pakistan’s state apparatus in this business to achieve its geopolitical ambitions, which later turned into personal greed and corruption, worsened matters. International attempts by UNODC and FATF to introduce different approaches, such as Paris Pact⁶⁹ or establishing a triangular initiative between Iran-Pakistan-Afghanistan,⁷⁰ failed to undermine Pakistan’s involvement in this business. The same initiatives have been successful in Iran as the rate of seizures of narco substances has increased substantially across the Balkan route. Due to improved border control, smugglers started avoiding the Northern route from Central Asia.

Figure 2: Distribution of Afghanistan-related heroin and morphine seizures in 2021, Source: UNODC World Drug Report 2023⁷¹

The discovery of new narco substances, markets, and routes has added to the wealth of people involved in this business which they further invested in expanding their narco empires. Increasing use of drone for cross border drug trade on Line of Control (LC) and International Bordered (IB) between India and Pakistan is one of example of it.⁷² This investment results in insecurity and chaos as these drug lords maintain close relations with political patrons who support their business. The involvement of Pakistan’s military establishment and politicians in narco-trafficking increases the stakes of drug kingpins in power politics. Such nexus could have played a role in negatively impacting the domestic politics of Pakistan.⁷³ Further, the narco-traders can also pose a security threat to Pakistan. The cases of seizure of heroin from an anti-Pakistani terrorist organisation such as Jamat-ul-Ahrar suggests the change in pattern as traffickers are now willing to use anti-establishment elements to transport narcotic substances.

Due to sustained pressure from the FATF and APG, Pakistan authorities have taken some measures (such as increased vigilance on Afghanistan and Iran borders, deployment of Navy and Coast Guard Ships near Makran Coast⁷⁴ and Arabian Sea, and started arresting corrupt officials⁷⁵ involved in narco business) to contain the operations of narco-traffickers. Further, it is in Pakistan’s long-term interest to curtail narco-business operations to control the rapidly increasing addicted population.

It remains unclear how long the Taliban will sustain their ban on opium cultivation. To overcome the reduced production of opium across the border, it is possible that Pakistan-based traffickers may turn to synthetic drugs and increase poppy cultivation in Pashtun tribal areas. In September 2022, Saudi authorities arrested two Pakistani nationals and one Syrian with 46 million Amphetamine pills, which suggests the nacro-traffickers are experimenting with diverse products.⁷⁶

These attempts of the Pakistani government and a ban on the production/cultivation of psychoactive substances in Afghanistan may not impact traffickers in the short term. It is reasonable to expect that the prices of narcotic substances will rise in response to the decrease in quantity. This price increase is likely to last for a period of one to two years. If Pakistan authorities can genuinely implement its anti-narcotics policies, it will disrupt the narco supply chains. Given the nexus between narco-businesses and some elements in the establishment, it needs to be seen if Pakistan can genuinely take on the drug kingpins by launching long-term sustained security operations against terrorist organisations and criminal gangs in different parts of the country. However, if the Pakistan government and its security agencies act to the contrary and reduce vigilance and provide safe passage to the traffickers, it will deleteriously impact Pakistan’s economy and polity. Pakistan’s failure to act on narco-businesses will also impact regional security and increase the supply of narcotics immediately in its neighbourhood and further to Europe and other regions.

ENDNOTES

1 “European police arrest more than 100 mafia suspects in drug crackdown”, Reuters, May 3, 2023, https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/dozens-arrested-germany-european-probe-italian-organised-crime-2023-05-03/

2 “Seven Pakistanis sentenced to death in Egypt for smuggling heroin”, The Express Tribune, September 5, 2021, https://tribune.com.pk/story/2318764/1?fbclid=IwAR1TzR3Gu4OtmrGpfbYcgvSvsFJOu3N9Sn8xCnqst7b4rT03J2GwiSC1qyc&utm_source=pocket_saves

3 “The national Anti-Narcotics Policy-2019”, Ministry of Narcotics Control Government of Pakistan, p. 3-4, http://anf.gov.pk/library/acts/nap2019.pdf

4 “The national Anti-Narcotics Policy-2010”, Ministry of Narcotics Control Government of Pakistan, http://anf.gov.pk/library/acts/Policy%20Revised.pdf

5 “Control of narcotics Substance Act-1997”, The Gazette of Pakistan, Senate Secretariate Pakistan, July 11, 1997, https://na.gov.pk/uploads/documents/Control-of-Narcotic-Substances-Act-XXV.pdf

6 “Annual Report-996-1997”, Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering, June 1997, p. 37,
https://www.fatf-gafi.org/en/publications/Fatfgeneral/Fatfannualreport1996-1997.html

7 “International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, 1998”, Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, U.S.Department of State Washington, DC, February 1999, https://1997-2001.state.gov/global/narcotics_law/1998_narc_report/major/Pakistan.html

8 “Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF)”, The Gazette of Pakistan, Page No. 373, February 26, 2010

9 “Anti-money Laundering Act, 2010, Act No. VII of 2010”, The Gazette of Pakistan, https://www.fmu.gov.pk/docs/Anti-Money-Laundering-Act-2010-amended-upto-Sep.%202020.pdf

10 “Act No. XX of 2022 an act further to amend the Control of Narcotics Substances Act 1997”, The Gazette of Pakistan, https://senate.gov.pk/uploads/documents/1663142723_815.pdf

11 “There and back again: A timeline of Pakistan’s journey out of the FATF ‘grey list’”, Dawn, October 21, 2022, https://www.dawn.com/news/1694958

12 “NA passes bill to stay off FATF list”, The News, August 4, 2023, https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1097099-na-passes-bill-to-stay-off-fatf-list

13 “World Drug Report 2000”, United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, p.1 https://www.unodc.org/pdf/world_drug_report_2000/report_2001-01-22_1.pdf

14 Ibid p.27

15 Barnett R. Rubin, Jake Sherman, “Counter-Narcotics to Stabilize Afghanistan: The False Promise of Crop Eradication”, Center on International Cooperation, February 2008, p. 10 at http://cic.es.its.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/counternarcoticsfinal.pdf

16 “Counternarcotics: Lessons from the U.S. Experience in Afghanistan”, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction Lessons Learned Report, June 2018, https://www.sigar.mil/interactive-reports/counternarcotics/index.html

17 Vanessa McMahon, “UN International Drug Control Programme Facing the Challenge”, United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention,1997, p. 19, https://www.unodc.org/pdf/report_1997-12-31_1.pdf

18 “Key events since Taliban takeover of Afghanistan a year ago”, Al Jazeera, August 9, 2022, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/9/key-events-since-taliban-takeover-of-afghanistan-a-year-ago

19 “Don’t worry, everything will be okay’: ISI chief during Kabul visit ”, Dawn, September 4, 2021, https://www.dawn.com/news/1644463

20 Abdul Basit, “Pakistan-Afghanistan border fence, a step in the right direction”, Al Jazeera, February 25, 2021, https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/2/25/the-pak-afghan-border-fence-is-a-step-in-the-right-direction

21 21 “Decree of Amir al-Momenin regarding prohibition of poppy cultivation in the country”, Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, 3 April 2022, at https://www.alemarahenglish.af/decree-of-amir-al-momenin-regarding-prohibition-of-Poppy-cultivation-and-any-intoxicants/

22 David Mansfield, “Truly Unprecedented: The Taliban Drugs Ban v2.0”, Alcis, June 7, 2023, https://www.alcis.org/post/taliban-drugs-ban

23 Ikramul Haq, “Pak-Afghan Drug Trade in Historical Perspective”, Asian Survey, Vol. 36, No. 10 (Oct., 1996), pp. 945-963, https://www.jstor.org/stable/2645627

24 Ibid

25 Gretchen Peters, “How Opium Profits the Taliban”, United States Institute of Peace, August 2009, p. 8, https://www.usip.org/publications/2009/08/how-opium-profits-taliban

26 “Fundamentalism, narcotics and ISI”, Ministry of External Affairs of India, March 23, 2003, https://mea.gov.in/articles-in-indian-media.htm?dtl/14275/fundamentalism+narcotics+and+isi

27 Richard M. Weintraub, “2 Pakistani Officers Flee Jail”, The Washington Post, December 8, 1986, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/12/08/2-pakistani-officers-flee-jail/23e205ab-3bf9-4623-9e80-768db295916f/

28 Tim Golden, “Pakistan’s Jailing of a Drug Agent Sours U.S. Ties”, The New York Times, November 17, 1997, https://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/17/world/pakistan-s-jailing-of-a-drug-agent-sours-us-ties.html

29 “Hon. Frank Pallone, Jr. Statement in The House of Representative”, Page E 2044, U.S. Congressional Record, October 3, 1994, https://irp.fas.org/congress/1994_cr/h941003-terror-pak.htm https://irp.fas.org/congress/1994_cr/h941003-terror-pak.htm

30 John Ward Anderson and Kamran Khan, “Heroin Plan by Top Pakistanis Alleged”, The Washington Post, September 1994, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1994/09/12/heroin-plan-by-top-pakistanis-alleged/311942bb-983a-416e-b735-7d71a07ba030/

31 “The Report of the International Narcotics Control Board for 1999”, United Nations, February 23, 2000, p. 50, https://www.incb.org/documents/Publications/AnnualReports/AR1999/AR_1999_E.pdf

32 Ibid

33 “UNODC World Drug Report 2004, Volume 1 Analysis”, United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, p. 59, https://www.unodc.org/pdf/WDR_2004/volume_1.pdf

34 “International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, 1998”, U.S.Department of State Washington DC,

35 “Financial flows linked to the production and trafficking of Afghan opiates”, Financial Action Task Force, June 2014, p. 3, https://www.fatf-gafi.org/en/publications/Methodsandtrends/Financial-flows-afghan-opiates.html

36 “Securing, Stabilizing, and Developing Pakistan’s Border Area With Afghanistan: Key Issues for Congressional Oversight” GAO report number GAO-09-263SP, U.S. Government Accountability Office, February 23, 2009, https://www.gao.gov/assets/a286308.html, And “Japan and UNODC Country Office Pakistan Enhance Counter-Narcotics Capacity of the Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) Pakistan by Installing Prefabricated Buildings and Body Scanners”, Embassy of Japan in Pakistan, February 9, 2022, https://www.pk.emb-japan.go.jp/itpr_en/11_000001_00312.html, And “U.S., Pakistan Sign $110 Million Agreement to Provide Law Enforcement and Counternarcotics Assistance”, US DOS, UN OCHA Service, April 16, 2012, https://reliefweb.int/report/pakistan/us-pakistan-sign-110-million-agreement-provide-law-enforcement-and-counternarcotics, And “United States Partners with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Enhance Counternarcotics Inspections and Develop Legal Crop Production”, US Embassy and Consulates in Pakistan, June 22, 2023, https://pk.usembassy.gov/united-states-partners-with-khyber-pakhtunkhwa-to-enhance-counternarcotics-inspections-and-develop-legal-crop-production/

37 “Statement of James Soiles, Deputy Chief of Operations, Drug Enforcement Administration U.S. Department of Justice Before the Subcommittees of Middle East and North Africa, and Asia and Pacific Committee on Foreign Affairs”, U.S. House of Representatives, for a hearing entitled After Withdrawal: The Way Forward in Afghanistan and Pakistan (part iii), December 10, 2014, https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/pr/speeches-testimony/2014t/121014t.pdf

38 “UNODC World Drug Report 2021, Drug Markets Trends: Cannabis Opioids, Volume 3”, United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, p. 93, https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/wdr-2021_booklet-3.html

39 “UNODC World Drug Report 2004, Volume 1 Analysis”, United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, p. 70, https://www.unodc.org/pdf/WDR_2004/volume_1.pdf

40 “UNODC World Drug Report 2019, Volume 3 Depressants”, United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention p. 43, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2019/prelaunch/WDR19_Booklet_3_DEPRESSANTS.pdf

41 “UNODC, Analysis of Opiate Stamps Seized in the Indian Ocean 2017-2021”, United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/AOTP/Drug_Stamp_Report_Online_1.pdf

42 “UNODC, Drug Use in Pakistan 2013” United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, March 2013, p. vi, https://www.unodc.org/documents/pakistan/Survey_Report_Final_2013.pdf

43 S. Khan, “Crystal meth use surges among students in Pakistan”, DW, April 21, 2021, https://www.dw.com/en/pakistan-crystal-meth-use-surges-among-students/a-57277821

44 “Eye-opening report unearths drug abuse, exploitation at Islamia University of Bahawalpur”, Dawn, July 23, 2023, https://www.dawn.com/news/1766332/eye-opening-report-unearths-drug-abuse-exploitation-at-islamia-university-of-bahawalpur

45 Yousaf Abbasi, “Educational institutions plagued by narcotics”, The Express Tribune, February 11, 2023, https://tribune.com.pk/story/2400525/educational-institutions-plagued-by-narcotic

46 Statement of James Soiles 2014

47 “Four ‘terrorists’ of banned outfit killed in gun battle with CTD in Quetta ”, Dawn, September 28, 2022, https://www.dawn.com/news/1712370/four-terrorists-of-banned-outfit-killed-in-gun-battle-with-ctd-in-quetta?utm_source=pocket_reader

48 Gretchen Peters, “How Opium Profits the Taliban”, United States Institute of Peace, August 2009, p. 20, https://www.usip.org/publications/2009/08/how-opium-profits-taliban

49 Dawood Azami, “Afghanistan: How do the Taliban make money?”, BBC, August 28, 2021, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-46554097

50 E-Book on Import/Export of Acetic Anhydried, National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes & Narcotics, India, September 18, 2015, https://nacin.gov.in/resources/file/e-books/E-book%20No.06%20on%20Acetic%20Anhydride.pdf

51 “Measures against the use of acetic anhydride or acetylchloride in the illicit manufacture of heroin”, United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, February 20, 1980, https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/Resolutions/resolution_1980-02-20_2.html

52 Import Policy Order, 2020, Government of Pakistan Ministry of Commerce, September 25, 2020, https://www.commerce.gov.pk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Import-Policy-Order-25-09-2020.pdf

53 Cam Simpson, Michael Smith and Nacha Cattan, “Heroin’s Hidden Ingredient Is a Chemical Made by U.S. Companies”, Bloomberg, August 26, 2020, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-08-26/u-s-drug-crisis-is-made-in-mexico-with-american-raw-materials

54 Chemicals Required for the illicit Manufacture of Drugs, United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, https://www.unodc.org/documents/india/ccch2.pdf

55 Seizures of substances in Table I of the 1988 Convention as reported to the International Narcotics Control Board (2010-2019), https://www.incb.org/incb/en/precursors/tables.html

56 ” Acetic Anhydride in The Context of Afghan Heroin, AOTP Update Volume 1”, United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, June 27, 2018, p. 10, https://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/aotp-update-volume-1-acetic-anhydride-context-afghan-heroin

57 Ibid

58 “UNODC World Drug Report 2021, Volume 5, Covid 19 and Drugs: Impact Outlook”, United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, p. 37, https://www.unodc.org/res/wdr2021/field/WDR21_Booklet_5.pdf

59 “Drugs worth Rs 25,000 crore came from Pakistan cartel: officials”, The Indian Express, May 15, 2023 https://indianexpress.com/article/india/drugs-worth-rs-25000-crore-came-from-pakistan-cartel-officials-8609426/

60 FATF 2014, p. 18

61 Eltaf Najafizada, and Ismail Dilawar, “Dollars Smuggled From Pakistan Provide Lifeline for the Taliban”, Bloomberg, February 6, 2023, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-06/dollars-smuggled-from-pakistan-provide-lifeline-for-the-taliban#xj4y7vzkg

62 FATF 2014, p. 18

63 FATF 2014, p. 18

64 “Extradition of Pakistani man for attempted heroin importation”, United States Drug Enforcement Administration, April 19, 2019, https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2019/04/29/extradition-pakistani-man-attempted-heroin-importation

65 “Pakistan Father Sentenced to Life and Son Sentenced to 30 Years in International Heroin Trafficking Scheme”, United States Drug Enforcement Administration, February 16, 2006, https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2006/02/16/pakistan-father-sentenced-life-and-son-sentenced-30-years-international

66 “DEA: Kenyan Drug Traffickers Arrive In US To Face Charges”, United States Drug Enforcement Administration, January 31, 2017, https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2017/01/31/dea-kenyan-drug-traffickers-arrive-us-face-charges

67 “DEA-led pursuit of Pakistani drug lord leads to U.S. guilty plea”, United States Drug Enforcement Administration, June 1, 2018, https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2018/06/01/dea-led-pursuit-pakistani-drug-lord-leads-us-guilty-plea

68 “St. Joseph Man sentenced for $6 million in synthetic cannabinoid conspiracy”, United States Drug Enforcement Administration, January 2, 2020, https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2020/01/02/st-joseph-man-sentenced-6-million-synthetic-cannabinoid-conspiracy

69 “UNODC Annual Report 2008”, United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, p. 21, https://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr/WDR_2008/WDR_2008_eng_web.pdf, and Read more about “The Paris Pact Initiative”, here https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/drug-trafficking/paris-pact-initiative.html

70 “Promoting Health, Security and Justice- 2010 Report”, United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, April 2010, p. 32, https://www.unodc.org/documents/frontpage/UNODC_Annual_Report_2010_LowRes.pdf

71 “UNODC World Drug Report 2023, ‘Contemporary Issues on Drug’, United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, June 2023, p. 175, https://www.unodc.org/res/WDR-2023/WDR23_Booklet_2.pdf

72 “Drones being used to smuggle drugs across border into India, admits Pakistan PM’s advisor”, The Hindu, July 28, 2023, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/drones-being-used-to-smuggle-drugs-across-border-into-india-admits-pakistan-pms-advisor/article67130616.ece

73 Ikramul Haq 1996

74 “Drugs, arms seized; three arrested in Balochistan”, Dawn, June 8, 2020, https://www.dawn.com/news/1561998/drugs-arms-seized-three-arrested-in-balochistan?utm_source=pocket_reader

75 “Two excise officials caught with eight kilos of heroin, 800-gram cocaine ”, Dawn, August 4, 2019, https://www.dawn.com/news/1497911/two-excise-officials-caught-with-eight-kilos-of-heroin-800-gram-cocaine?utm_source=pocket_reader

76 “Two Pakistanis detained in Saudi Arabia’s ‘biggest drug bust”, Dawn, September 1, 2022, https://www.dawn.com/news/1707836/two-pakistanis-detained-in-saudi-arabias-biggest-drug-bust?utm_source=pocket_reader