Operation Southern Flood: Heroin Interdiction in Afghanistan (75 images)

US Marines, agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Afghan National Interdiction Unit conducted a four day counter-narcotics operation probing into new ground in eastern Nimruz. The operation seized and destroying three heroin labs, each estimated to be able to produce some 100 kilos of heroin per day with a US bulk value of $60-80,000 per kilo.

The operations was deemed a huge success. Yet the interdiction effort had only scratched the surface of a trade in a region...
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US Marines, agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Afghan National Interdiction Unit conducted a four day counter-narcotics operation probing into new ground in eastern Nimruz. The operation seized and destroying three heroin labs, each estimated to be able to produce some 100 kilos of heroin per day with a US bulk value of $60-80,000 per kilo.

The operations was deemed a huge success. Yet the interdiction effort had only scratched the surface of a trade in a region whose economy evolves around the poppy.

The DEA works independent from all other agencies in Afghanistan. Yet if there are to be any real long term success in eradicating heroin production in Afghanistan, ultimately such measures will have to be coordinated with agricultural initiatives that provide a sustainable alternative for the farmers coupled with supporting economic and commerce infrastructures.
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