Heroin Found in Car Allegedly Owned by Top Afghan Border Official
EmailA manhunt is on in Afghanistan for the man President Hamid Karzai wanted to name head of his country’s border police, ABC News has learned, following the discovery that the official owned a car filled with heroin intercepted by members of the Kabul City Criminal Investigations Division. U.S. authorities confirmed the seizure of 130 kilograms of heroin in June in a car that allegedly belonged to Haji Zahir Qadir, the former chief of the border police for northern Takhar province. Haji Zahir was not in the car when it was intercepted. His cousin and "right hand," Bilal, was present and arrested. Afghan officials say Karzai wanted to name Haji Zahir to head the border police, but a U.S. military intelligence assessment obtained by ABC News in 2006 named Zahir as a drug smuggler. News of the seizure and the manhunt came at a most embarrassing time for Karzai, who was at Camp David with President George Bush to meet on regional issues, including the upsurge in violence in Afghanistan and cross-border issues with Pakistan. Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage. According to ABC News sources, even as Karzai sought reassurances of continued support from Bush, U.S. anti-narcotics forces and local police were hunting for Haji Zahir. U.S. and Afghani sources say the border police are notoriously corrupt, even by the standards of a country where illegal narcotics trafficking accounts for about 60 percent of the gross domestic product. Do you have a tip for Brian Ross and the Investigative Team?
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
Look, all of 911 was a result of a bad heroin deal.
Posted by: ac | August 7, 2007, 12:50 pm 12:50 pm
A better policy would have us buying the opium from the Afghanis rather than trying to destroy an industry that has been around for thousands of years. I would be willing to bet that it would be far cheaper for us to buy the Afghan opium and destroy it as opposed to trying to change their culture. This policy would have at least two major (and immediate) results: (1) We (and not the Taliban) would become the farmers best customers, and (2) the farmers would trust us more.
The U.S. gov’t policy regarding drugs is outdated and failing. The puritantical ways of the past must be disregarded. Opium and other drugs are not evil and the people that use them are not immoral. Rather, the so called “War on Drugs” is clearly inconsistent with our constitution and natural law. Decriminalizing all drugs would deprive the Taliban and other terrorist organizations from profiting from the very black market created by our own foolish prohibitionist policies.
Posted by: jim jones | August 7, 2007, 1:26 pm 1:26 pm
We should have NEVER allowed Afganistan and Iraq to ‘try’ and rebuild their countries – we should have done it for them – just like we did in Japan post WWII – look at how successful we were there – why we didn’t follow that model I’ll never know. Martial law from the start and FULL U.S. command and control.
Posted by: jim | August 7, 2007, 1:42 pm 1:42 pm
I bet Karzai was really embarrassed when he could not provide Bush with a fix! I really wonder just what a Muslim and a Baptist could talk about and be relevant to world affairs.
Posted by: Sierra_Angler | August 7, 2007, 2:25 pm 2:25 pm
The USA (us)are not willing to eradicate this “evil” heroin threat. We own interest in all “illegal drugs” that are making them rich. Check out the open boarders from Mexican “illegal drugs” Marijuna is a cash cow for them also. The trilloins of dollars generated by “illegal drugs” going and coming thru USA helps pay for the massace of innocent women and children.
Posted by: Joe Richards | August 7, 2007, 2:32 pm 2:32 pm
That’s pretty silly, ac, but care to elaborate anyway?
Posted by: Jazz | August 7, 2007, 2:47 pm 2:47 pm
The last thing the Afgans need is a politician who’ll use their position for personal gain. Now we in the US wouldn’t stand for that. That’s why we voted GW and Cheney for President and ahh ……… ooops …… Never mind!
Posted by: Roy | August 7, 2007, 3:49 pm 3:49 pm
so – we’ve got a president who snorted coke while dodging military service
Posted by: Ann Louise | August 7, 2007, 7:28 pm 7:28 pm
“A better policy would have us buying the opium from the Afghanis rather than trying to destroy an industry…” I am in violent agreement. It would be less expensive in the long run and will take away the tools the Taliban have to cultivate support.
Posted by: Rooscow | August 8, 2007, 9:41 am 9:41 am
Opium production was down to almost ZERO under the Taliban prior to 9/11. The resolutely religious Taliban are strictly against poppy production. The new US sponsored Afghan government is the agency allowing this increased production, not the Taliban. These crops could be wiped out in a few weeks of that’s what the US wants, but they do not want that. It would cut off the easy funding for black operations that they receive from illicit drug sales. The Los Angeles times broke the story behind this back in the 1990′s, and it was buried as quickly as it appeared. GOOGLE it.
Posted by: Eric | August 8, 2007, 5:23 pm 5:23 pm
Say it isn’t so…………..
Posted by: Denise | August 9, 2007, 4:47 pm 4:47 pm
Most of the monies the US is pumping into foreign countries, is going into the pockets of politicians and other corrupt officials.
So……just what purpose does it serve to provide those monies?
Posted by: Rick McDaniel | August 10, 2007, 10:40 am 10:40 am
Prohibition never works. Even in countries that are literally run by martial law where drug users are put to death, they can’t stop it. In places where alcohol is still considered a dangerous illegal drug – like it once was here – there are thriving black markets for it. It’s not worth martial law to me. Regulate it thru legal distribution channels. There is a shortage of legal opium for legal prescription drugs worldwide. Let the people make a living, cut the Taliban/Al Queda out of the profits. Turkey used to be a big illicit heroin source, but they found a way to regulate the trade. Google Senlis Council if you want more info.
Prohibition only fuels violence and corruption and makes drugs much more valuable and enticing.
Posted by: gramma4freedom | August 10, 2007, 2:04 pm 2:04 pm
I wonder how the Founding Fathers would feel about prohibition?
A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded… Prohibition goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man’s appetite by legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes.
- Abraham Lincoln
Even in countries where martial law is the rule and people are put to death for drug use, they can’t stop it. I don’t want to live in a police state!
If you think legalizing the distribution of opium in Afghanistan is crazy, google “Senlis Council” and see their plan. It was done in Turkey (remember Midnight Express?)and Turkey is no longer a “narco-state”.
Posted by: gramma4freedom | August 10, 2007, 2:20 pm 2:20 pm
Turkey not a narco state? Its one of the larger processing areas and transhipment points for heroin from that part of the world to Europe. Thick as theives with both sides of this Muslim/Christian thing. GOOGLE “Sibel Edmonds” and search “Turkey” and you will find out much about our WOD and WOT.
Posted by: skootercat | August 10, 2007, 9:24 pm 9:24 pm
Make it legal. Why is everyone so Daff? Just because you make some thing legal doen’t mean that eveyone will become Addicts. But it will empty your jails, and lesson your crime rate, if it is done on the up and up…! Hay you may even be able to tax it and save your country. Tell someone they can’t touch the paint and they will want to more so than if you never mentioned it at all.
Posted by: Chris French | August 12, 2007, 6:47 pm 6:47 pm