There are many ways to fund terror, and one way is by consuming opium or heroin: Opium production in Afghanistan is seeing record increases for the third year straight, reports the United Nations.

This is because foreign military have started leaving the country and as they do drop Afghani farmers back into the hands of the Taliban.

Poppy production started going down starting in 2008 when there were eradication (burning opium crops) and incentive efforts to get Afghani farmers to switch to other kinds of crops.

But with the Taliban insurgents returning to the provinces they are now supporting opium farmers’ return to the valuable cash crop.

And when we say support, we mean with arms and guns. The Taliban actively fight government officials who try to eliminate poppy fields.

Prices this year range from $350 to $440 a pound.

Despite the religious prohibition, opium and heroin are not just a problem in the west. The drugs are also used by Afghanis, and opium is also heavily consumed by Iranians. This leads to a broad range of societal problems which we are sure readers are aware of.

For the Afghani farmers in the southern Kandahar and Helmand provinces, alternative crops to poppies which form the derivative of opium, do not compare. Farming wheat leaves them hungry, while opium creates a multi-billion dollar business, and the Taliban of course get their cut.

Someone who can help the Afghani farmers find a more productive and sustainable crop might very well earn the Nobel Prize. Maybe help them switch to medicinal marijuana?

Afghanistan is currently the world’s largest producer of opium, and it supplies about 75 percent of the global market.

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A very popular narcotic in the Middle East, khat maybe be funding the terrorist organization Al Shabaab in Somalia, CNN reports. Chewing the red stems of Catha edulis produces mild euphoria and an alertness akin to that produced by caffeine, and it is openly and widely use in the Horn of Africa. In Yemen, growing Khat uses more water than the country can afford and takes priority over more sustaining crops.

Now Dutch officials are banning khat in the Netherlands, where a large Somali community imports large quantities of the plant from farmers in Meru County, Kenya. Government spokespeople insist that this decision was taken to protect against grave economic, health, and social concerns, but analysts believe that funds generated by the trade are funneled to Al Shabaab and that the Dutch aim to curtail that.

Crippled Kenyan farmers

CNN reports that the pending ban will have a devastating impact on Kenyan farmers. “If the ban is accepted or if it is enforced, the whole Meru county, the economy of the Meru county will be crippled,” Kenyan farmer Edward Mutuura told CNN.

He exports most of his crops to the Nertherlands and worries that the entire population of Meru county will be “totally crippled” if the ban goes through. Emmanuel Kisiangani of the Institute of Security Studies explained to CNN that legitimate business owners export their crops, but people sympathetic to Al Shabaab’s cause send money to them.

Meanwhile, a UN report details how the violent group receives funds by taxing khat that is exported to Somalia. Dutch officials deny any security motivations behind their decision to ban khat, which is illegal in the rest of Europe and the United States. It is still legal in the United Kingdom.

Enabling terror

People who abuse the narcotic are reported to become violent, suicidal, and may even experience manic episodes and hallucinations, and constant users tend to abandon their daily responsibilities, which leads to economic troubles in the home.

Jessica Lincoln and Frans Barnard told CNN that although intelligence agencies suspect links between the international trade of khat and terrorist organizations linked to Al Qaeda, it has proved very difficult to prove since it is hard to trace the money.

But an anti-khat activist based in the UK, Abukar Awale told the paper that Al Shabaab recruits young British addicts to facilitate parts of the multimillion trade and claims that if Britain does not ban imports and sales, they are effectively enabling terror in Somalia.

:: CNN

image via eesti, flickr

More on Khat:
Khat – the Middle East’s Bad Habit
Yemen’s Economic and Environmental Problems Blamed on Khat

The post Leafy Narcotic Khat Trade May be Funding Terror appeared first on Green Prophet.