VZCZCXRO7682
OO RUEHDBU RUEHIK RUEHYG
DE RUEHBUL #2976/01 1841016
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 031016Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1156
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE
RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//JF/UNMA//
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC//J3//
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUMICEA/JICCENT MACDILL AFB FL
RHMFIUU/COMSOCCENT MACDILL AFB FL
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2657
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 2801
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 6110
RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA 1482

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 002976 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
RELEASABLE TO NATO/AUST/NZ/ISAF 
 
STATE FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A, S/CRS, SA/PB, S/CT, 
EUR/RPM, INL 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG 
NSC FOR AHARRIMAN 
OSD FOR BREZINSKI 
CENTCOM FOR CG CFC-A, CG CJTF-76, POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958 N/A 
TAGS: SNAR PGOV PREL AF
SUBJECT: PRT/QALAT - DRUG SITUATION IN ZABUL: RECORD 
SEIZURES ON THE RING ROAD; POPPY PRODUCTION STILL 
SMALL BUT INCREASING 
 
KABUL 00002976  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶1.  Summary:  The ANP have seized over 18,000 
kilograms of drugs in the past 14 months, primarily 
along the Ring Road linking Kandahar to Kabul.  The 
UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) expects the 
local poppy cultivation, although small, will 
increase more than 50% this year.  End Summary. 
 
SEIZURES 
-------- 
 
¶2.  Zabul Province is located along the Ring Road 
connecting the capital Kabul with the country's 
second most important city, Kandahar.  The former 
Provincial Chief of Police (CoP), Gen. Nabi (who had 
been the former Afghan Highway Patrol commander from 
Kandahar to Ghazni, and is now the Helmand 
Provincial CoP) aggressively hunted for vehicles 
transporting drugs from Kandahar to Kabul 
(occasionally drugs are seized going in the opposite 
direction).  From the beginning of the previous year 
in the Islamic calendar until his departure, about 
14 months, the ANP in Zabul had seized approximately 
18,000 kg of drugs.  The new CoP, Gen. Nur Mohammed 
Paktin has been in office less than a month, but his 
police have had five major drug seizures, including 
404 kg of opium on 28 June (the total of opium 
seized nationwide from 1 January to 1 July is 12,246 
kg). 
 
SOURCES OF FRICTION WITH KABUL 
------------------------------ 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The Zabul police complain that they do not 
receive funding commensurate with the amount of 
drugs that they seize.  They point out that 
additional funding could be used to pay rewards to 
informants, obtain better search equipment and hire 
more officers to assist in searches.  Vehicle 
searches, especially those requiring dismantling of 
vehicles, are very time-consuming and labor- 
intensive. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The Zabul police also complain that the 
rules regarding forfeiture of vehicles involved in 
transporting drugs are not clear.  Often, the owner 
will claim the driver was smuggling drugs without 
his permission, and the vehicle will be released to 
the owner.  Both these issues will be raised at the 
provincial justice conference, which has been 
postponed several times. 
 
GROWING PAINS WITH THE NEW LAW 
------------------------------ 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Since January, a new law has required that 
the suspects and seized drugs be sent to Kabul in 
cases involving more than 2 kg of heroin, 5 kg of 
opium, or 50 kg of hashish.  In the first case in 
Zabul under this law, the Ministry of the Interior 
did a poor job coordinating with the Chief of 
Police, expecting the PRT and DEA to make most of 
the arrangements for them.  Chief Nabi was very 
 
KABUL 00002976  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
concerned about the MoI representatives stealing the 
drugs themselves, until he was advised that they 
would be escorted by US DEA agents.  The MoI 
subsequently determined that it could fulfill its 
obligation by obtaining a sample from each seizure 
(for forensic testing).   Transfers to Kabul have 
now become routine.  The case file, suspects and 
samples are sent to Kabul and the remainder of each 
large seizure is burned locally. 
 
AMBIVALENCE TO NEW SPECIAL NARCOTICS COURT 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶6.   (SBU) More than half of the felony-type cases 
tried in Zabul are still drug cases.  The Director 
of Prosecutors opines that they should all be tried 
locally, not in Kabul.  The Director of Courts 
doesn't think it matters, as the problem is high 
level GoA officials involved in the drug business. 
The PRT MoI Liaison officer, however, believes it is 
a good idea to try major drug cases in Kabul, so 
that local officials are not threatened. 
 
PRODUCTION STILL SMALL, BUT INCREASING 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  Zabul is a major transit point, but not a big 
poppy growing province.  According to the UN Office 
on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in 2005, Zabul produced 
2,053 hectares of poppies, out of the 103,907 
hectares grown nation-wide.  However, in 2006, UNODC 
expects an overall increase in excess of 50%. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Anecdotally, PRT members have seen poppy 
fields in all districts, including here in Qalat. 
During a visit to Nabahar District, locals 
complained to PRT members that the Government had 
promised assistance in return for not growing 
poppies, but had received none of the promised 
assistance. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Governor Arman has also expressed his 
frustration that no funding had been provided to 
Zabul Province by the GoA to discourage poppy 
production, despite large amounts of funding for 
neighboring Kandahar Province.  He reported that 303 
hectares had been eradicated this year. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Gen. Paktin is preoccupied with the 
security situation, but is still trying to actively 
interdict drug traffickers.  Zabul now has a 
Director of Counter Narcotics, but he has only been 
in office for several weeks.  We anticipate Zabul 
will remain a leader in terms of the amount of drugs 
seized. 
 
NEUMANN