Heroin Industry Still Booming In Afghanistan

This should raise some concerns about our government's role in Afghanistan, but it probably won't. You may recall that American intelligence blamed Afghanistan's heroin industry as a source of funding for terrorists prior to the launching of our military's invasion of the country nearly a dozen years ago. The head of Russia's Federal Drug Control Service says its officials seized over 20 tons of heroin in an operation it carried out in Afghanistan's eastern province.

Almost 21 tons of heroin have been seized in an operation in eastern Afghanistan , the head of Russia’s Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN) said on Tuesday.

“An operation was carried out yesterday in the province of Nangarhar, during which several drug production labs were destroyed and almost 21 tons of heroin seized,” FSKN head Viktor Ivanov said.

He said FSKN officers had taken part in the “unique operation.”

“Twenty-one tons is, in essence, the annual volume of drugs brought into Russia,” Ivanov said.

The Pajhwok Afghan News agency said five heroin producing laboratories were destroyed by security forces during an operation in the Sherzad district of eastern Nangarhar province on Monday. Several people were arrested, the agency said, citing officials.

Some 30,000 Russians die from heroin abuse every year, according to official statistics, accounting for around one-third of all heroin-related deaths worldwide. NGOs estimate that there are up to three million heroin addicts in the country.

The vast majority of the heroin consumed in Russia is from Afghanistan. The United Nations says some 20 percent of the almost 400 tons of heroin produced annually in the war-ravaged state travel through Central Asia before reaching the Russian market.

Who benefits from Afghanistan's heroin industry now? Will any member of Congress dare to ask as we continue to dump billions and billions of dollars in military expenditures in this never-ending rat hole?