Officials Fired for Drug Links
While some applaud the dismissal of local leaders accused of corruption, others remain unconvinced the government is serious about halting the drug trade.
Officials Fired for Drug Links
While some applaud the dismissal of local leaders accused of corruption, others remain unconvinced the government is serious about halting the drug trade.
In a case that could have wide repercussions for Afghanistan’s battle against corruption, five government officials in the Chamtal district in the northern province of Balkh have been dismissed for alleged involvement in the drug trade.
This is the first time the government has taken action against its own, and the sackings are being billed as the start of a general anti-corruption drive.
The sacked officials include the district government head, the chief of police, the chief of security, the chief of staff and the prosecutor. They were dismissed from their posts in mid-January and handed over to the provincial prosecutor’s office for interrogation.
The charges against them include accepting bribes from opium poppy farmers in order to halt the eradication process now under way in the north.
Afghanistan is the world’s largest supplier of opium, the raw material used to produce heroin. A 2004 United Nations study estimating that the country accounted for close to 90 per cent of the world’s heroin supply prompted a major eradication effort, and in 2005 the total area under cultivation was reduced by over 20 per cent.
The crackdown in Balkh began in November, after Muhibullah Ludin, an official with the counter-narcotics ministry in the northern provinces, found that eradication efforts there were lagging.
Provincial officials gave farmers ten days to destroy their poppy crops. Once the deadline had passed, they began to arrest violators, and since early November, nearly 100 farmers have been arrested and jailed.
But 60 of those imprisoned have since been released, with the provincial head claiming that this was the result of bribes paid to district officials.
“Some officials are filling their pockets by taking advantage of the process,” said Balkh governor Atta Mohammad Nur.
Atta Mohammad added that he is determined to crack down on poppy cultivation and will dismiss any government officials who are implicated in the narcotics trade.
"I will prevent the expansion of poppy cultivation this year with all the means at my disposal,” he said.
Abdul Ghafar Lal Purwal, head of the interrogation department at the Balkh province prosecutor's office, told IWPR that any officials found to be involved in drug trafficking would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
“These people are being interrogated, and if the allegations on them are proved, they will be handed over to the courts,” he said.
The accused officials are still free on bail. But they are required to come to the prosecutor’s office daily for questioning.
Zabiullah Akhtari, a senior government official in Balkh, told IWPR that the operation in Chamtal was just the beginning.
“There are investigations ongoing in all 14 districts of the province,” he said, “we have suspicions about officials in two of them. Any officials implicated in the narcotics trade will be dismissed.”
The five officials currently under investigation declined to be interviewed by IWPR.
However, not everyone is convinced that the government is getting serious about tackling the drug problem. Some argue that members of the Afghan administration at the highest level are deeply implicated in the narcotics business, so and punishing lower-ranking officials is a way of seeming to address the problem while leaving the real culprits at large.
“It’s a case of the sharks arresting the small fish,” remarked one observer, who asked not to be named.
“It's useless to put pressure on lower-ranking officials and poppy farmers,” said Kabir Ranjbar, a prominent legal expert, political analyst and member of parliament. “The process must begin with those in the highest echelons of government.”
The present round of dismissals is just for show, Ranjbar added, “Those who are doing the sacking are probably involved in poppy cultivation themselves. Poppy growing and drug smuggling are being carried out by local commanders, who totally dominate their areas. Provincial governors can do nothing against them. And in fact, some of the governors are warlords themselves and are linked with the poppy trade.”
Atta Mohammad, along with General Mohammad Daud, the deputy interior minister in charge of counter-narcotics, have both been accused of profiting from the drug trade. Both men, former commanders in the Northern Alliance that helped overthrow the Taleban, have adamantly denied these charges.
Some suspect the arrest of the district officials has more to do with how the proceeds from illegal drug trafficking are distributed than with any real crackdown on the trade.
“District officials have to share the proceeds with senior officials,” said Qayoum Babak, a political analyst in Mazar-e-Sharif. “Perhaps these people were dismissed for not giving a big enough share of their bribes to the higher-ups."
Babak suggested that the farmers who are now behind bars may be there because they refused to pay bribes. “Those with ties to the government would never get arrested,” he said.
Whatever the motivation, Ghulam Farooq Khepalwak, a lecturer at Balkh University and a political analyst, said that this first wave of dismissals in the government will have a positive effect on drug-reduction efforts.
“These officials were supporting poppy farmers and taking bribes from them. Now that they have been dismissed, poppy cultivation will decrease automatically,” he said.
But in order for the change to be permanent, he added, the sackings should start much higher up.
“Dismissals of individuals who promote the planting and smuggling of narcotics should start from the cabinet,” he said. “The government is full of such people.”
Meanwhile, the poppy growers say they feel caught in the middle.
One farmer in Sholgara district of Balkh province, who did not want to give his name, told IWPR, "I am a poor farmer and I had planted poppies on one acre of my land. The government destroyed my crop and put me in prison for a week. That's unfair, because when harvest time comes, it is government officials who buy our crop and smuggle it to other provinces.
"But instead of putting them in jail, they pick on us."
Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi is an IWPR reporter in Mazar-e-Sharif.
This is the first time the government has taken action against its own, and the sackings are being billed as the start of a general anti-corruption drive.
The sacked officials include the district government head, the chief of police, the chief of security, the chief of staff and the prosecutor. They were dismissed from their posts in mid-January and handed over to the provincial prosecutor’s office for interrogation.
The charges against them include accepting bribes from opium poppy farmers in order to halt the eradication process now under way in the north.
Afghanistan is the world’s largest supplier of opium, the raw material used to produce heroin. A 2004 United Nations study estimating that the country accounted for close to 90 per cent of the world’s heroin supply prompted a major eradication effort, and in 2005 the total area under cultivation was reduced by over 20 per cent.
The crackdown in Balkh began in November, after Muhibullah Ludin, an official with the counter-narcotics ministry in the northern provinces, found that eradication efforts there were lagging.
Provincial officials gave farmers ten days to destroy their poppy crops. Once the deadline had passed, they began to arrest violators, and since early November, nearly 100 farmers have been arrested and jailed.
But 60 of those imprisoned have since been released, with the provincial head claiming that this was the result of bribes paid to district officials.
“Some officials are filling their pockets by taking advantage of the process,” said Balkh governor Atta Mohammad Nur.
Atta Mohammad added that he is determined to crack down on poppy cultivation and will dismiss any government officials who are implicated in the narcotics trade.
"I will prevent the expansion of poppy cultivation this year with all the means at my disposal,” he said.
Abdul Ghafar Lal Purwal, head of the interrogation department at the Balkh province prosecutor's office, told IWPR that any officials found to be involved in drug trafficking would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
“These people are being interrogated, and if the allegations on them are proved, they will be handed over to the courts,” he said.
The accused officials are still free on bail. But they are required to come to the prosecutor’s office daily for questioning.
Zabiullah Akhtari, a senior government official in Balkh, told IWPR that the operation in Chamtal was just the beginning.
“There are investigations ongoing in all 14 districts of the province,” he said, “we have suspicions about officials in two of them. Any officials implicated in the narcotics trade will be dismissed.”
The five officials currently under investigation declined to be interviewed by IWPR.
However, not everyone is convinced that the government is getting serious about tackling the drug problem. Some argue that members of the Afghan administration at the highest level are deeply implicated in the narcotics business, so and punishing lower-ranking officials is a way of seeming to address the problem while leaving the real culprits at large.
“It’s a case of the sharks arresting the small fish,” remarked one observer, who asked not to be named.
“It's useless to put pressure on lower-ranking officials and poppy farmers,” said Kabir Ranjbar, a prominent legal expert, political analyst and member of parliament. “The process must begin with those in the highest echelons of government.”
The present round of dismissals is just for show, Ranjbar added, “Those who are doing the sacking are probably involved in poppy cultivation themselves. Poppy growing and drug smuggling are being carried out by local commanders, who totally dominate their areas. Provincial governors can do nothing against them. And in fact, some of the governors are warlords themselves and are linked with the poppy trade.”
Atta Mohammad, along with General Mohammad Daud, the deputy interior minister in charge of counter-narcotics, have both been accused of profiting from the drug trade. Both men, former commanders in the Northern Alliance that helped overthrow the Taleban, have adamantly denied these charges.
Some suspect the arrest of the district officials has more to do with how the proceeds from illegal drug trafficking are distributed than with any real crackdown on the trade.
“District officials have to share the proceeds with senior officials,” said Qayoum Babak, a political analyst in Mazar-e-Sharif. “Perhaps these people were dismissed for not giving a big enough share of their bribes to the higher-ups."
Babak suggested that the farmers who are now behind bars may be there because they refused to pay bribes. “Those with ties to the government would never get arrested,” he said.
Whatever the motivation, Ghulam Farooq Khepalwak, a lecturer at Balkh University and a political analyst, said that this first wave of dismissals in the government will have a positive effect on drug-reduction efforts.
“These officials were supporting poppy farmers and taking bribes from them. Now that they have been dismissed, poppy cultivation will decrease automatically,” he said.
But in order for the change to be permanent, he added, the sackings should start much higher up.
“Dismissals of individuals who promote the planting and smuggling of narcotics should start from the cabinet,” he said. “The government is full of such people.”
Meanwhile, the poppy growers say they feel caught in the middle.
One farmer in Sholgara district of Balkh province, who did not want to give his name, told IWPR, "I am a poor farmer and I had planted poppies on one acre of my land. The government destroyed my crop and put me in prison for a week. That's unfair, because when harvest time comes, it is government officials who buy our crop and smuggle it to other provinces.
"But instead of putting them in jail, they pick on us."
Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi is an IWPR reporter in Mazar-e-Sharif.
