[This report does not necessarily reflect
the views of the United Nations]
KABUL, 7 December (IRIN) - At least 200 members of the Counter-Narcotics
Police of Afghanistan (CNPA), including investigators, intelligence analysts
and prosecutors, have completed a week's training on basic drug investigation,
the interior ministry said on Wednesday.
Afghanistan's special force, tasked with
reducing the cultivation and sale of hard drugs, is less than two years
old but has had some successes: the CNPA has destroyed in excess of 145
mt of opium and closed down over 170 drug-processing laboratories.
But critics say much more needs to be done before Afghanistan is no longer
the world's number one supplier of opium.
As a part of continued support for Afghanistan's police, Washington's Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has provided training to enhance the fight against illicit narcotics in the post-conflict country.
"The classes taught included: case
initiation; report writing; evidence handling; surveillance; drug identification;
the new counter-narcotics
Law; and courtroom testimony," Yousuf Stanizai, a spokesman for the
interior ministry said.
"Twelve female police officers were also provided with counter-narcotics training on investigation," Stanizai noted.
The US ambassador in Afghanistan, Ronald Neumann said: "The United States and the international community recognise the importance of Afghanistan's counter-narcotic police and all are actively involved in providing training for the counter-narcotic police of Afghanistan."
Around 400 suspects have been detained during counter-narcotic operations across the country over the past 12 months and have been turned over to the new Counter-Narcotics Criminal Justice Task Force (CNCJTF), according to the interior ministry.
Although the amount of land under poppy cultivation fell by 21 percent over the past year, production is still booming, meaning Afghanistan produced about 87 percent of the world's supply of opium, most of which is used to make heroin.
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