DEA, fighting a 'monster,' touts Afghan drug busts

by Mark Silva

The Drug Enforcement Agency, the only American agency committed solely to fighting a war against drugs, may be viewed as a domestic operation, but its leader says it is deeply involved in a global fight against a drug trade estimated at $320 billion a year.

In Pakistan – now “nearly poppy-free’’ – the DEA administrator delivered an address today that touts gains the agency and allies are making in neighboring Afghanistan, where a flourishing poppy trade is financing the operations of terrorists.

“You live in the shadow of a monster – the Afghan opium trade,’’ Karen Tandy, the DEA administrator (pictured at right in a DEA photo) told the Pakistanis today. She flew in from Afghanistan this morning to deliver her message in Islamabad. She was touting successes in the Afghan arena:

 “Arresting two of the world’s most wanted drug lords— Haji Bashir Noorzai and Haji Baz Mohammad, both connected to the Taliban—resulting in the disruption of their large-scale drug enterprises and the first ever extradition from Afghanistan to the United States.

 “Last year’s Afghan convictions and sentencing of three long-time, significant traffickers (Misri Khan, Haji Bahram, and Noor Ullah) to lengthy prison terms under the new Afghan narcotics laws.

 “This spring’s arrest of Mohammad Essa, a known terrorist and large-scale drug trafficker.

 “The arrests in June of Babah and Salam Khan—significant opium and heroin traffickers.

“To those of you who may not be familiar with us… the DEA is the only agency in the United States dedicated solely to drug law enforcement,’’ the DEA chief said. “And while our jurisdiction lies within American borders, and our primary responsibility is to the American people, we also understand that we are part of a global law enforcement community.’’

In Pakistan alone, the DEA has had an office for 35 years.

“Today we live in a smaller world – a world of easy transportation, instantaneous communication, and technology designed to tear down the old walls of distance,’’ she said. “Unfortunately what has created great opportunity for the world – in terms of commerce, culture, and friendship–has also opened a world of opportunity for the drug trade. The world drug trade is huge – the U.N estimates it at 320 billion U.S dollars, and calls it “the single most profitable sector of transnational criminality.”

This year, the DEA says it took part in a multi-national case in the United Arab Emirates resulting in the arrest of major heroin trafficker Shahbaz Khan and the seizure of nearly 90 million dollars in drug profits. It assisted with a “world record maritime seizure of 21 tons of cocaine’’ off the coast of Panama and a “world record drug cash seizure – $207 million – in Mexico.’’

The recent arrest of Monzer al Kassar, a global munitions trader who supplied and funded terrorist acts for three decades and evaded law enforcement, is another coup.

“Al Kassar funded and armed factions in a host of the world’s hot spots, such as Iran and Iraq, and was one of the Iraqi Government’s most wanted,’’ the DEA chief said. “He also was connected to some of the DEA’s most significant drug cases over the years. From his palatial estate in Spain, he commanded a global illicit munitions empire, an empire built on transnational crime and drug trafficking.’’

In the shadow of that monster, the Afghan opium trade, she is calling on Pakistan to work with the U.S. “We need to multiply our strength, multiple our manpower and our brainpower, if we are to have any hope of defeating this monster. The opium trade fuels the insurgency, threatens Afghanistan’s stability, entices terrorists to the region, and undermines good governance. We all need to be fully committed to working together to be sure that Afghanistan does not become the next narcostate.

“That’s why I’m here today,’’ she said. “To tell you that even though geographically we are oceans apart, in terms of our drug enforcement efforts DEA and Pakistan stand shoulder-to-shoulder.

“Pakistan itself is a success story in the global war on drugs,’’ she said. “Once a heroin-supply country, Pakistan now is nearly poppy-free, and that is something you should be very proud of. Pakistan is a vital ally to our anti-drug efforts.’’