How Druglink used Wikileaks to reveal the secret story of heroin’s journey from Afghanistan to the UK. Dispatch 09DUSHANBE569: Dushanbe, a pleasant enough neo-classical city in Tajikistan, bordering Afghanistan. A mobile phone number belonging to a man known as ‘The Doctor’. Further research reveals his real…
Tag Archive for trafficking
Druglink article 2011 – Politics of the poppy by Harry Shapiro and David Guttenfelder
As the Western powers prepare to leave Afghanistan, informed opinion concludes that the ten year war against opium growing has been an expensive failure. Politics of the poppy (PDF)
Druglink article 2011 – Under the shadow of the drug lords
The vibrant Mexican city of Monterrey is the country’s financial hub. But as with a growing number of cities in Mexico, it is ceding control to the narco-traffickers. Reporting from the city, one eyewitness describes the suffocating effect that crime linked to the drug…
Druglink article 2011 – Crystal crescent by Matthew C. DuPée
Matthew C. DuPée on the spread of the methamphetamine trade in south west Asia. As the 21st century unfolds, Afghanistan finds itself in a profound socio-economic crisis. It is one in which the illegal drug trade and insurgency plays a very complex and important role. According…
Druglink article 2012 – Birth of the Narco-state by Andrew Craig
In Ghana, greater self-sufficiency, improvements in health care and a reduction in poverty have all contributed to its stability over the last 20 years. However, the result of the national election to be held in December 2012 has the potential to destroy these…
Druglink article 2012 – Wash day by Euan Grant
To paraphrase The Wire, if you just go after the drugs, all you get is drugs; chase the money and you never know where it may lead. But with HSBC the latest bank to be embroiled in a drug money scandal, how effective…
Druglink article 2012 – Diazepam daze by Jason Bennetto
Drug enforcement officers in Scotland are starting to seize large quantities of tranquillisers they believe are being either manufactured in illegal UK-based laboratories, smuggled from abroad or bought online. Diazepam daze (PDF)
Druglink article 2012 – Moroccan ‘roll by Adrian Gaton
There are official claims that Morocco’s days as a leading exporter of hashish are over. But do such claims stand up to scrutiny? Moroccan ‘roll (PDF)
Druglink article 2012 – Food for thought by Andrew Craig
Although khat has been used in Ethiopia for centuries, Andrew Craig argues that the rising demand for khat globally from the Horn of Africa diaspora is blighting the famine ravaged region. Food for thought (PDF)
Druglink article 2001 – Death, destruction and depression: Understanding Afghanistan by David MacDonald
Whether Afghanistan is a villain for producing opium or the victim of international power, the result is people who feel they have no hope. Death, destruction and depression: Understanding Afghanistan (PDF)