BISHKEK, April 30 (Itar-Tass) - The analysis of the situation shows that the withdrawal of the main part of foreign troops from Afghanistan and the transfer in 2014 of responsibility of the international community for security in this country to the local forces by themselves “cannot change the catastrophic situation with drug production.” Head of the Russian Federal Drug Control Service Viktor Ivanov made this statement on Tuesday at the fourth meeting of the heads of the competent authorities of the member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), held in the Kyrgyz capital.
According to him, the Afghan drug production has become a generator of the whole range of threats, a system forming factor of the military-political situation in Eurasia in general.
“Transnational drug groups in the event of our inaction will continue to protect their planetary drug farm further in the interest of preserving the enormous amount of opium and hashish production,” Ivanov believes. Thus, he said, the arguments that the withdrawal of NATO troops will stimulate increased production of drugs in Afghanistan “do not take into account the fact that the already operating production capacities of the drug infrastructure are inordinate, they in essence destroy Eurasia politically and biologically.”
“This problem cannot be solved without the SCO proactive and decisive actions,” said the head of the Russian Federal Drug Control Service. “And we have the historic responsibility to professionally get this across to the leadership of our countries and the entire international community.” Moreover, Ivanov believes, the SCO today is called upon to “determine principally new approaches” to the settlement of the problems associated with drug production in Afghanistan.