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February 16th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda Opening a major international conference address in Vienna, Austria, on Thursday on ways to combat narcotics production in Afghanistan and smuggling through neighboring states, Ban said Afghanistan cannot be stable while its economy depends so heavily on the drugs trade.
He noted that the problem of drug trafficking has undermined efforts to help Afghanistan emerge as a normally functioning economy.
“We cannot speak of sustainable development when opium production is the only viable economic activity in the country,” Ban told delegates of the Paris Pact Ministerial Conference.
The UN chief noted, “We cannot expect stability when 15 percent of Afghanistan’s gross domestic product comes from the drugs trade.”
Ban said export earnings from Afghan opiates may be worth as much as $2.4 billion.
“Above all, the Afghan government must prioritize the issue of narcotics,” he stated.
“Law enforcement agencies must work harder on eradicating crops, eliminating laboratories, keeping precursors from entering the country, and inhibiting drug trafficking,” the UN secretary general urged.
A UN report released on January 12 says the production of opium and the illicit drug’s value soared in Afghanistan last year despite the presence of some 130,000 foreign troops there.
According to the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), farmer income derived from cultivation of the poppy crop was $1.4 billion (1.09 billion euros) in 2011. The figure accounted for nine percent of Afghanistan’s gross domestic product.
The UN also said that more than 131,000 hectares were under opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan last year, up seven per cent from the previous year.
The overall opium crop increased by 61 percent, from 3,600 metric tons in 2010 to 5,800 metric tons in 2011.
The value of the opium yield rose 133 percent from 2010, when plant diseases killed much of the Afghan crop.
The high price of opium means poppy cultivation generated 11 times more revenue for Afghan farmers than wheat.
MP/JR
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