CIA planted Afghan opium crop, writer says

Afghanistan was ushered into the role of world opium plantation by none other than the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, concludes writer Jerry Mazza in the Online Journal. Commercial heroin production began in Afghanistan in the 1980s when the CIA sponsored elements of the Afghan resistance to the Soviet invasion and occupation of 1979. Quoting an article by muckraking journalist Michael Ruppert and other sources, Mazza writes:

"Before 1980, Afghanistan produced 0% of the world's opium. But then the CIA moved in, and by 1986 they were producing 40% of the world's heroin supply. By 1999, they were churning out 3,200 TONS of heroin a year ­ nearly 80% of the total market supply. But then something unexpected happened.

The Taliban rose to power, and by 2000 they had destroyed nearly all of the opium fields. Production dropped from 3,000+ tons to only 185 tons, a 94% reduction! This enormous drop in revenue subsequently hurt not only the CIA's Black Budget projects, but also the free-flow of laundered money in and out of the Controller's banks."

Since the overthrow of the Taliban by a U.S.-led invasion in 2001, opium production in Afghanistan has revived and risen to record levels, and a growing number of U.S. communities are feeling the impact of the resulting cheaper, higher-grade heroin. The post-9/11 role of the U.S. military, intelligence, civilian contractor and commercial interests in the illicit trade remains to be illuminated.