KABUL: By giving levy to the Taliban and bribing the very government forces tasked to destroy the bloom of his poppy fields, Sanaullah for years has been planting poppy, which is refined into opium and then into heroin.
He is one of the thousands of farmers who have turned to this industry, which has earned Afghanistan global notoriety, and which strangely has been on the rise since US-led troops overthrew the Taliban government despite the flow of hundreds of millions of dollars and a campaign of eradication.
“We are doing this because of extreme destitution. The Taliban come and take their share as tax and we also pay tip money to police and others in the government,” the farmer who operates in the southern region told Arab News.
“There is a big market for this in the region and the world, with local and foreign mafia making a big fortune out of this and even bankrolling the war here,” the 56-year-old said, requesting not to reveal the province where he lives for security reasons.
He has witnessed days in the initial years after the fall of the Taliban when foreign and government forces conducted raids to destroy poppy fields, even causing casualties on both sides. But farmers resumed cultivation.
Some commanders within the government and warlords have been profiting from the trade for years as well as the Taliban, according to locals.
There have been allegations among Afghans, even some government officials, that foreign troops are also involved in the trafficking, that how they are funding the war in Afghanistan and that demand is increasing in the international market.
In Kabul, an official who works at the special tribunal for sentencing drug dealers claimed that neither the government nor the foreign troops are “serious” at this stage about the annihilation of drugs or arresting key figures involved in the trafficking of narcotics.
“Hundreds of people have been arrested over the years on suspicion of drug-smuggling, but have you ever heard of or seen any major dealer being arrested?. They are only after small fish to show to the world that they are fighting the drugs menace,” he told Arab News.
Waheed Mozhdah, an analyst, told Arab News he has heard from farmers in the south that a new type of opium seed has come to Afghanistan that can produce multiple harvests in a year.
This week a survey for last year’s opium harvest of Afghanistan conducted by various Afghan institutions and UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) was released.
It showed an increase of 63 percent in 2017, to an estimated 328,000 hectares.
“The majority (60 percent) of opium poppy cultivation took place in the southern region of the country. The western region accounted for 17 percent of total cultivation; the northern for 13 percent and the eastern for 7 percent,” the survey said.
The remaining regions (northeastern and central) together accounted for 3 percent. The report also highlighted an increase of 87 percent in opium production, i.e. 9,000 tons from its 2016 level (4,800 tons).
Deputy Minister for Counter-Narcotics Jawed Qaem, described the illicit drugs trade as a devastating catastrophe for Afghanistan and the world, and closely interlinked with international terrorism.
He said: “Global demand for drugs is the core driver of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan; additional factors include the huge involvement of international precursor traffickers and their strong ties with the mafia in transporting the precursors into Afghanistan to convert opium to heroin.”
He added that the Taliban profited from the trade, and it was a major source for funding the insurgency.
The value of the trade of drugs has jumped to $6.6 billion last year compared to less than $3 billion in past years, he said.
Both the government and UNODC said they will keep on their campaign against drugs.
Afghan drugs trade rises dramatically since overthrow of Taliban
Afghan drugs trade rises dramatically since overthrow of Taliban
China retaliates again in Trump’s trade war, prompting flight from US assets
- Bond prices fall, dollar weakens, gold hits record high as stand up to US ‘bullying’
- Stocks recover but inflation and recession fears persist
BEIJING/WASHINGTON/LONDON: Beijing increased its tariffs on US imports to 125 percent on Friday, hitting back against President Donald Trump’s decision to raise duties on Chinese goods and upping the stakes in a trade war that threatens to upend global supply chains.
The retaliation intensified global economic turmoil unleashed by Trump’s tariffs. US stocks ended a volatile week higher, but the safe haven of gold hit a record high during the session and benchmark US 10-year government bond yields posted their biggest weekly increase since 2001 alongside a slump in the dollar, signaling a lack of confidence in America Inc.
One US survey of consumers showed inflation fears have mounted to their highest since 1981, while financial institutions have been forecasting an ever greater risk of recession.
Trump downplayed the market turbulence, predicting the dollar would strengthen and saying many tariffs could settle in around 10 percent once the United States cut trade deals with all the countries that want to negotiate.
“When people understand what we’re doing, I think the dollar will go way up,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One late on Friday. “The bond market’s going good. It had a little moment but I solved that problem very quickly.”
The White House has said more than 75 countries have sought negotiations and that future deals would bring certainty.
India and Japan are among the powers to have advanced toward trade talks, but generally foreign leaders have puzzled over how to respond to the biggest disruption to the world trade order in decades.
The tit-for-tat tariff increases by the US and China stand to make goods trade between the world’s two largest economies impossible, analysts say. That commerce was worth more than $650 billion in 2024.
“The president made it very clear: When the United States is punched, he will punch back harder,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Friday.
The dollar slid and a sell-off intensified in US Treasuries, the world’s biggest bond market, as gold climbed.
With the dollar weakening, selling of US assets was perhaps most exemplified by t
The price decline in the US 10-year Treasury note. decline drove its yield — which moves opposite to the price and is critical for determining interest rates on mortgages — to a two-month high. On the week, its yield has climbed nearly half a percentage point.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is closely monitoring the bond market, Leavitt said.
A second day of data on US inflation showed price pressures were not yet building broadly across the US economy, although the Producer Price Index for March did show industrial metals prices rising due to import levies on things like steel and aluminum, in place for a month now.
“Tarifflation will be much more important for the outlook than backward-looking data,” said Bill Adams, chief economist at Comerica Bank. “If tariffs stay in place they will push inflation considerably higher in coming months.”
The University of Michigan said its Consumer Sentiment Index dropped to 50.8 this month from 57.0 in March. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index falling to 54.5.
In a reversal of previous surveys, the latest one also showed weakening confidence among Trump’s fellow Republicans.
Consumers’ 12-month inflation expectations soared to 6.7 percent this month, the highest since 1981, from 5.0 percent in March, according to the survey.
Trade war with China
This week, Trump announced a 90-day tariff pause on dozens of countries while ratcheting up tariffs on Chinese imports effectively to 145 percent.
China retaliated with more tariffs on Friday. China’s finance ministry called Trump’s tariffs “completely unilateral bullying and coercion.”
Beijing indicated this would be the last time it matched US tariff rises but left the door open for other types of retaliation.
“If the US truly wants to have talks, it should stop its capricious and destructive behavior,” Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in the US, wrote on social media. “China will never bow to maximum pressure of the US“
UBS analysts in a note called China’s declaration “an acknowledgement that trade between the two countries has essentially been completely severed.”
Leavitt, in turn, delivered a warning to Beijing: “If China continues to retaliate, it’s not good for China.”
On Thursday, Trump told reporters he thought the US could make a deal with China and he respected Chinese President Xi Jinping. On Friday, Xi made his first public remarks on Trump’s tariffs, telling Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Beijing that China and the European Union should “jointly oppose unilateral acts of bullying.”
US senators ask SEC for Trump insider trading probe
- Trump posted on his website Truth Social early Wednesday that “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!” as stock markets were tanking
- A few hours later, Trump announced a 90-day suspension of additional tariffs against some countries, triggering a historic stock market rebound
WASHINGTON: A group of US senators on Friday urged the government’s markets watchdog to investigate whether President Donald Trump or White House insiders broke securities laws ahead of his dramatic reversal on global tariffs.
The six Democrats — led by Massachusetts progressive Elizabeth Warren — noted in a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that Trump posted on his website Truth Social early Wednesday that “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!” as stock markets were tanking.
A few hours later, Trump announced a 90-day suspension of additional tariffs against dozens of countries, triggering a historic stock market rebound and the best day for the S&P 500 since the recovery from the 2008 financial crisis.
“We urge the SEC to investigate whether the tariff announcements... enriched administration insiders and friends at the expense of the American public,” senators wrote in a letter to regulators at the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The letter urged the SEC to probe whether “any insiders, including the president’s family, had prior knowledge of the tariff pause that they abused to make stock trades ahead of the president’s announcement.”
Trump signed his Truth Social post with the letters “DJT” — both his initials and the stock market abbreviation for his media company, Trump Media & Technology Group.
The company’s shares closed up 21.67 percent on Wednesday.
“Corruption and lawlessness”
The senators called on the SEC to investigate whether the president, his donors or other insiders had engaged in market manipulation, insider trading or other violations of securities laws.
SEC chairman Paul Atkins has history with Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, who has accused him of having conflicts of interest over his ties to the financial services industry.
Atkins is not obliged to do what the senators ask, and four of the group followed up with a second letter to the National Association of Attorneys General asking for state-level investigations.
“Corruption and lawlessness have become a calling card of the Trump administration,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, one of the signatories of both letters.
The demand for action came amid concern over the growing number of avenues through which Trump and his family can monetize the power of the presidency, although no evidence of corruption had emerged.
Days before his inauguration, Trump released a “memecoin” — a digital cryptocurrency token with no inherent value — opening the door for secret donations from foreign buyers.
“Now anyone in world can essentially deposit money into bank account of President of USA with a couple clicks,” his former aide Anthony Scaramucci posted on social media after the launch.
“Every favor — geopolitical, corporate or personal — is now on sale, right out in the open.”
The White House told The Washington Post that Trump’s Truth Social post sought only to “reassure” the public and that he had a responsibility to “reassure markets and Americans about their economic security.”
US prosecutors seek release of ex-FBI informant who admitted fabricating claims against Biden
- The move is the latest by the Trump administration to reverse cases against supporters of President Trump or those who aided conservative causes
- Smirnov pleaded guilty in December to fabricating bribery claims against former President Joe Biden and his son Hunter
WASHINGTON: US prosecutors plan to review the case of a former FBI informant who admitted to fabricating bribery claims against former President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, according to a court filing on Friday.
The disclosure came as prosecutors, together with defense lawyers for the informant, Alexander Smirnov, asked a federal judge to release him from prison while he appeals a six-year prison sentence.
“The United States intends to review the government’s theory of the case underlying Defendant’s criminal conviction,” prosecutors wrote in a filing in Los Angeles federal court.
The move is the latest by the US Justice Department during the Trump administration to review or dismiss cases against supporters of President Donald Trump or those who aided conservative causes.
Smirnov pleaded guilty in December to causing the creation of a false record after falsely telling his FBI handler years earlier that he had knowledge of bribes paid by executives at a Ukrainian energy company to Joe and Hunter Biden. He also admitted to tax evasion.
Smirnov’s claims, documented in an FBI record, briefly became the focus of a Republican-led impeachment investigation into Joe Biden that was later abandoned.
The case was brought by former Special Counsel David Weiss, who separately indicted Hunter Biden on tax and gun crimes. Joe Biden later issued a sweeping pardon for his son.
In seeking his release, prosecutors agreed that Smirnov was not likely to flee or pose a threat to public safety. His travel would be limited largely to Nevada, where he lived, according to the filing. It is not clear how the Justice Department review could impact the case. Smirnov already struck a plea agreement with prosecutors.
His appeal has so far been limited to arguing that his time spent in pretrial detention should count toward his six-year sentence.
Chinese nationals fighting for Russia in Ukraine are mercenaries, US officials say
- Ukrainian forces had captured two men of Chinese origin in eastern Ukraine, says commander of US forces in the Indo-Pacific
- The mercenaries have no link to the Chinese government, but China had provided Moscow with material support for its war against Ukraine
WASHINGTON: More than 100 Chinese citizens fighting for the Russian military against Ukraine are mercenaries who do not appear to have a direct link to China’s government, two US officials familiar with American intelligence and a former Western intelligence official said.
Chinese military officers have, however, been in the theater behind Russia’s lines with Beijing’s approval to draw tactical lessons from the war, the former official told Reuters.
The head of US forces in the Indo-Pacific, Admiral Samuel Paparo, confirmed on Wednesday that Ukrainian forces had captured two men of Chinese origin in eastern Ukraine after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country had information about 155 Chinese citizens fighting there on Russia’s behalf.
China, which has declared a “no-limits” partnership with Russia and has refrained from criticizing Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, had called Zelensky’s remarks “irresponsible” and said China was not a party to the war.
The US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Chinese fighters appear to have minimal training and are not having any discernable impact on Russia’s military operations.
The CIA, the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the National Security Council, as well as China’s embassy in Washington, did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
The former Western intelligence official with knowledge of the issue told Reuters there were about 200 Chinese mercenaries fighting for Russia with whom the Chinese government has no link.
But Chinese military officers have, with Beijing’s approval, been touring close to Russia’s frontlines to draw lessons and tactics from the war. The officers “are absolutely there under approval,” the former official said.
China has for years provided Moscow with material support to help aid its war against Ukraine, primarily in the shipment of dual-use products – components needed to maintain weapons such as drones and tanks.
Beijing has also supplied Russia with lethal drones to use on the battlefield. In October, the Biden administration sanctioned for the first time two Chinese companies for providing the weapons systems to Moscow.
Volunteers from Western countries, including the US, have been fighting for Ukraine since the early days of the war, and North Korea has deployed more than 12,000 troops to support Russian forces, thousands of whom have been killed or injured in combat.
Tufts student from Turkiye details arrest, crowded detention conditions in new court filing
- Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, is among several people with ties to American universities whose visas were revoked or have been stopped from entering the US
- They were accused of attending demonstrations or publicly expressed support for Palestinians amid Israel's attacks on Gaza
A Tufts University doctoral student from Turkiye is demanding her release after she was detained by immigration officials near her Massachusetts home, detailing how she was scared when the men grabbed her phone and feared she would be killed.
Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, who has since been moved to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Basile, Louisiana, provided an updated account of what happened to her as she walked along a street on March 25, in a document filed by her lawyers in federal court Thursday.
Ozturk is among several people with ties to American universities whose visas were revoked or have been stopped from entering the US after they were accused of attending demonstrations or publicly expressed support for Palestinians.
‘I felt very scared and concerned’
“I felt very scared and concerned as the men surrounded me and grabbed my phone from me,” Ozturk said in the statement. They told her they were police, and one quickly showed what might have been a gold badge. “But I didn’t think they were the police because I had never seen police approach and take someone away like this,” she said.
Ozturk said she was afraid because her name, photograph and work history were published earlier this year on the website Canary Mission, which describes itself as documenting people who “promote hatred of the USA., Israel and Jews on North American college campuses.”
She said the men didn’t tell her why they were arresting her and shackled her. She said at one point, after they had changed cars, she felt “sure they were going to kill me.” During a stop in Massachusetts, one of the men said to her, “We are not monsters,” and “We do what the government tells us.”
She said they repeatedly refused her requests to speak to a lawyer.
Hearing scheduled on Ozturk’s case in Vermont
A petition to release her was first filed in federal court in Boston and then moved to Burlington, Vermont, where a hearing on her case to resolve jurisdictional issues is scheduled on Monday.
Ozturk’s lawyers say her detention violates her constitutional rights, including free speech and due process. They have asked that she be released from custody.
US Justice Department lawyers say her case in New England should be dismissed and that it should be handled in immigration court. Ozturk “is not without recourse to challenge the revocation of her visa and her arrest and detention, but such challenge cannot be made before this court,” government lawyers said in a brief filed Thursday.
She recalled that the night she spent in the cell in Vermont, she was asked about wanting to apply for asylum and if she was a member of a terrorist organization. “I tried to be helpful and answer their questions but I was so tired and didn’t understand what was happening to me,” she stated.
Ozturk, who suffers from asthma, had an attack the next day at the airport in Atlanta, as she was being taken to Louisiana, she said. She was able to use her inhaler, but unable to get her prescribed medication because there was no place to buy it, she said she was told.
Ozturk says she wasn’t let outside for a week
Once she was put in the Louisiana facility, she was not allowed to go outside during the first week and had limited access to food and supplies for two weeks. She said she suffered three more asthma attacks there and had limited care at a medical center.
Ozturk said she is one of 24 people in a cell that has a sign stating capacity for 14.
“When they do the inmate count we are threatened to not leave our beds or we will lose privileges, which means that we are often stuck waiting in our beds for hours,” she said. “At mealtimes, there is so much anxiety because there is no schedule when it comes. … They threaten to close the door if we don’t leave the room in time, meaning we won’t get a meal.”
Ozturk said she wants to go back to Tufts so she can finish her degree, which she has been working on for five years.
Ozturk was one of four students who wrote an op-ed in the campus newspaper, The Tufts Daily, last year criticizing the university’s response to student activists demanding that Tufts “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide,” disclose its investments and divest from companies with ties to Israel.
A senior Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said federal authorities detained Ozturk after an investigation found she had “engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans.” The department did not provide evidence of that support.
Ozturk is supported by coalition of Jewish groups
A coalition of 27 Jewish organizations from across the United States is objecting to Ozturk’s arrest and detention.
The organizations say those actions and possible deportation of Ozturk for her protected speech “violate the most basic constitutional rights,” such as freedom of expression.
“The government … appears to be exploiting Jewish Americans’ legitimate concerns about antisemitism as pretext for undermining core pillars of American democracy, the rule of law, and the fundamental rights of free speech and academic debate on which this nation was built,” the groups say in a friend-of-the-court brief filed Friday in her case.
