Heroin boom fears as Afghan poppy fields return

Afghan farmers have begun growing poppies again, sparking fears of a boom in the international heroin trade.

The international community is desperate to ensure there is no return to the 1990s when Afghanistan was the largest source of heroin in the world.

The trade was almost eradicated by the Taliban which banned poppy growing last year.

Suggestions for stopping the floodgates opening again include destroying poppy fields or even buying up next year’s harvest.

Monitors have had no access to the country’s poppy growing areas since September so have not been able to establish how much land has been put under cultivation during the growing season in October and November.

They may not know until February or March, when the poppies bloom, exactly how much has been grown.

But the United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP), which is currently re-establishing its Kabul office, said there were indications of a return to poppy growing by farmers.

There are also concerns that the recent turmoil will make it difficult to enforce the law against growers.

The ‘‘quick buck’’ offered by poppy growing will also be more attractive now that brutal punishments handed out by the Taliban are gone.

Before the Taliban’s ban 90% of the heroin recovered in Europe came from Afghanistan.

A UNDCP spokesman said the idea of buying next year’s harvest had been put forward in some quarters.

‘‘There are all sorts of ideas floating around.

‘‘Everyone agrees that the Taliban ban on poppy cultivation and almost complete eradication of it, with a decrease in production of 94%, provides an historic opportunity for drug control.

‘‘This is the growing season and we have indications that they have started growing again in a number of areas.’’

The UNDCP’s preferred option is for effective law enforcement backed up by development projects which would give farmers the option to grow commercial crops, he said.

Many farmers see it as an ideal time to grow poppies, partly because heroin stockpiles held in Afghanistan were radically depleted immediately after September 11 as drug lords prepared to flee.

There are already reports of opium bazaars re-opening and fears local warlords may encourage poppy growing so they can tax it.

Provinces in Afghanistan where poppies are historically grown include Helmand in the south and Nangrahar in the east.

During the Taliban’s ban the only source of production was land held by the Northern Alliance.