Pubdate: Thurs, 25 Oct 2001 Source: Far Eastern Economic Review (Hong Kong) Copyright: 2001 Review Publishing Company Limited Contact: http://www.feer.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1191 Intelligence TALIBAN SELL OFF HEROIN STOCKS Heroin prices have dropped dramatically in northern Europe over the past few weeks and law enforcement officials say this indicates that Afghanistan's ruling Taliban have managed to sell vast quantities of the narcotic recently. Swedish police say a gram of heroin has fallen to $50 against $100-120 in August. Afghanistan is the European market's main supplier of heroin, but the Taliban in July last year outlawed cultivation of the opium poppies from which the drug is derived. The ban was lifted in early September. However, Afghanistan's vast stockpiles of raw opium were not destroyed and the law enforcement officials believe the Taliban--desperate for cash and under armed assault--are tapping these reserves until a new poppy crop is ready for harvest. In 1999 Afghanistan produced 4,600 tonnes of raw opium, or enough to produce 460 tonnes of heroin. Most of that crop has been stored in Taliban-controlled godowns in southern and eastern Afghanistan. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth