"US, Russia join in drug raids; $56m in heroin confiscated in Afghan operation" by Katharine Houreld, Associated Press / October 30, 2010
KABUL, Afghanistan — Russian counternarcotics agents teamed up with US and Afghan forces in an unprecedented joint raid that destroyed nearly $56 million worth of heroin near the Pakistani border, officials said yesterday.
The seizure of four drug labs nestled in thick vegetation along a dusty gray moonscape in Nangarhar province came less than a week after Russia’s antinarcotics chief accused the United States of failing to dismantle such labs and slow down the flow of heroin into Russia.
The drug dough funds more black ops as well as propping up bank profits.
About a ton of narcotics was confiscated in Thursday’s raid, but that is unlikely to have a significant impact on Afghanistan’s drug trade. The country produces enough raw opium to manufacture 360 tons of heroin a year, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.
It's a SHOW RAID for the RUSSIANS!!
But the level of cooperation between US and Russian forces was significant and suggested an improvement in relations between the former Cold War foes, two decades after US-financed Afghan militias chased the Soviet military out of this country.
Yeah, THOSE GUYS became "Al-CIA-Duh!"
The two nations occasionally cooperate nowadays on terrorism and drug issues, but Moscow has offered only lukewarm support for the US-led war in Afghanistan. Russia has limited itself to allowing use of its territory for US military transit.
Isn't that enough?
It has turned down requests to provide helicopters and training for pilots or to train counternarcotics police.
Empire always wants it all.
Nevertheless, the export of Afghan drugs is an issue of paramount concern to Russia, which now has 2 million opium and heroin addicts....
You know what banker$ $ee there, don't you?
Russian antinarcotics chief Viktor Ivanov said that his agency told the United States where the labs were located.
So we HAD TO DO SOMETHING!
Four Russians were involved in the raid, Ivanov said, and Russia may increase the number of its drug agents in Afghanistan in the future.
An Afghan official said the labs were in a narrow valley high in the mountains. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
Four labs were shut down in the operation, which involved three branches of Afghan law enforcement as well as NATO, the United States, and Russia, US embassy spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said in Kabul.
Or move it.
A DEA press release said the raid originally targeted one lab but then found three others hidden by vegetation....
I always wonder what the hell DEA and FBI are doing overseas.
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Not everyone is happy the Russians are back in Afghanistan:
"Afghan leader decries Russian role in NATO raid on four drug labs" by Katharine Houreld, Associated Press / October 31, 2010
KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan’s president Hamid Karzai said the raid breached Afghanistan’s sovereignty and international law and ordered the interior and defense ministries to investigate the issue.
“While Afghanistan remains committed to its joint efforts with [the] international community against narcotics, it also makes it clear that no organization or institution shall have the right to carry out such a military operation without prior authorization and consent of the government of Afghanistan,’’ his office said in a statement.
Related: The Boston Globe's Invisible Ink: Karzai's Kin
I guess he would feel that way, wink-wink, nudge-nudge.
While Afghan forces were involved in the raid, Karzai’s national security adviser, Rangin Dadfar Spanta, insisted that NATO had not asked for permission to bring the Russians along. He said NATO had verbally apologized but Afghanistan wanted a formal declaration.
“We want a public apology,’’ said Spanta, a former foreign minister. “Friendship does not allow a friend to do whatever he pleases in the house of the host.’’
They are angry because they were not told about it.
American agents from the US Drug Enforcement Administration and NATO also participated in the raid....
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There is one way the Ru$$ians might help more:
"Taliban ratchet up attacks on Afghan security forces; Russia promises more cooperation on NATO effort" by Katharine Houreld, Associated Press / November 4, 2010
KABUL, Afghanistan — Meanwhile, Russia promised yesterday to do more to help NATO in Afghanistan but only if the alliance members pay the bill....
Get out your wallet, American.
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