30 tons of drugs seized in Persian Gulf’s ‘Hash Highway’
By Sandra Jontz, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Thursday, July 17, 2008
Coalition warships in the Persian Gulf have seized 30 tons of illegal drugs
over the past five months in international waters that military officials have
dubbed the "Hash Highway," according to U.S. Navy officials.
The seizures, carried out mostly by the British navy, have cut off a money
supply that possibly funded insurgent efforts in Afghanistan, Commodore Keith
Winstanley, commander of Royal Navy forces in the region, said in the press
statement.
"The scourge of illegal drugs are one of the gravest threats to the long term
security of Afghanistan, and a vital source of funding for the Taliban warlords
who seek violence against Afghan, Coalition and NATO forces," Winstanley said.
"Our mission in Afghanistan is one of absolute importance, and by seizing these
drugs we have dealt a significant blow to the illegal trade."
The narcotics were seized from vessels sailing primarily in the Gulf of Oman,
said U.S. Navy Lt. Stephanie Murdock, a spokeswoman with the Navy’s 5th Fleet,
based in Manama, Bahrain.
The vessels hailed from many countries in the region, and the destination of
the drugs is not known, Murdock said in a phone interview. "The countries [the
vessels] came from are all over the region, and not necessarily from any one
country per se," she said. "We haven’t identified any one country in
particular. It’s an overarching problem in the area."
Narcotics seized included hashish, opiates, cocaine and amphetamines, according
to a Combined Maritime Forces press release.
Afghanistan is the world’s biggest opium producer, and the U.N. Office on Drugs
and Crime reported last month that the country also appears to have become the
world’s top grower of cannabis, overtaking Morocco, according to The Associated
Press. The resin from cannabis is molded to create hashish. UNODC estimates
that some 170,000 acres of cannabis were grown in Afghanistan last year, up
from 120,000 acres in 2006, The AP reported.
