Russia and Europe could play a decisive role in the fight against the drug threat emanating from Afghanistan, Pino Arlacchi said in an interview with RIA Novosti. Arlacchi is a leading expert on drug trafficking and organized crime and an Italian representative in the European Parliament.

Arlacchi will attend the international conference “Drug Production in Afghanistan: A Challenge for the International Community,” to be held in Moscow on June 9. RIA Novosti is sponsoring the conference with support from the Russian State Anti-Narcotics Committee, the Council for Foreign and Defense Policy, and the Institute for Demography, Migration and Regional Development.

“I have been working with Russian delegates for nearly a decade, since 1999, when the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which I headed then, helped Russia draft its first law on money laundering,” Arlacchi said.

“I am confident that Russia is not only vital for maintaining international stability and dialogue, but could play, alongside Europe, a decisive role in transforming the situation in Afghanistan, “Arlacchi said. “By ‘transforming’ I mean what we should have done ten years ago and what I attempted to do – stop opium production in Afghanistan once and for all.”

He noted that Russia and EU countries are the main victims of Afghan heroin.

“I will say at the forum that Russian and European drug addicts use Afghan opium,” Arlacchi said. “This is why our countries should help draft a plan to stop the cultivation of opium poppy in Afghanistan, though not just by destroying poppy fields. We must also formulate an alternative program for development that will provide Afghans with another way to make a living.”

“I have found considerable support in Russia. Viktor Ivanov, the head of the Federal Service for Drug Control, and I see eye to eye on this problem,” he said.

Reforming international aid to Afghanistan

Arlacchi, who is drafting a new Afghan strategy in the European Parliament, stressed the importance of reviewing the system for providing international aid to Afghanistan.

“The system is in need of serious reform. I have uncovered a huge waste of funding and considerable corruption in the aid program, and not only on the part of the Afghan authorities. In fact, no more than 20% of the allocated funds reach Afghanistan,” the delegate said. “We must overhaul the system. Americans must stop relying on private contractors, because large companies responsible for providing security in Afghanistan have their hands in other activities related to this country. I am referring to transnational companies, which receive over 70% of the Afghan development aid. This increases costs and reduces efficiency, and also leads to violations of human rights in the sphere of security.”

The Italian deputy also highlighted the need to train a modern Afghan police force, which will ensure security and human rights and prevent Afghanistan from descending into chaos when the European and U.S. troops withdraw.

Arlacchi spearheaded the program A Drug Free World in 1998, which was approved by the UN General Assembly. The program aimed to destroy all opium poppy and coca plantations in the world within ten year. He said this strategic goal is still on the agenda in Afghanistan.

“We have gained positive experience,” he said. “In 2001, after the UN undertook large political and diplomatic efforts to implement my program, the Taliban stopped opium production in Afghanistan. It shows that we can achieve our goal. Unfortunately, the U.S. and NATO forces invaded the country soon afterward, and the problem returned.”

Arlacchi noted that many countries have achieved impressive results in the fight against opium and cocaine over the past ten years.

“When I was appointed head of the UNODC, opium was produced in 12 countries, including Burma, Laos, Pakistan and Vietnam. We have solved this problem in nearly all Asian countries except for Afghanistan. The same goes for cocaine production,” Arlacchi said. “Bolivia, the largest coca producer, has virtually eliminated production, and now we only need to tackle the problem in Colombia. In general, the number of coca plantations has been cut dramatically worldwide, and we seize over 50% of the cocaine in the world. By applying the same strategy in Afghanistan, we will achieve the goal of A Drug Free World. It is not a utopian dream.”

“I am confident that if Europe invests 100 million euros a year in this strategy, within five years we would root out opium in Afghanistan and the rest of the world. This is only 10% of what the EU spends on Afghanistan each year,” he said.

The situation in Russia

When asked about the situation in Russia, Arlacchi said the rapid rise in drug use there over the past ten years is due primarily to the influx of Afghan drugs.

“The drug lords quickly realized the potential in the Russian market, where prices are nearly as high as in Europe,” he said. “They decided to expand their operations to that huge market when the drug business was stagnating and even in decline in Europe. In my opinion, the Russian market has reached the saturation point in terms of demand. As for supply, we can reverse the trend very quickly. If Europe and Russia reach an agreement on this problem, we will quickly achieve the desired result.”

Arlacchi has called on the international community to rapidly develop a plan to stop opium production in Afghanistan.

“It’s shameful that we have not done this in the nine years since the beginning of the war, which costs $30 billion a year,” he told RIA Novosti.

Checkmating drugs

Arlacchi compared the fight against drugs to chess.

“Every move results in a countermove, and so we have to anticipate the opponent’s moves,” he said. “For example, in response to an offensive we launched in the 1990s and the early 2000s, the criminal gangs changed their internal structure, breaking off into smaller and more flexible groups. They rarely use violence now, and instead try to buy off officials. Our next move must be radical,” Arlacchi said.

“We must close the spigot completely by destroying drugs plantations in Afghanistan. If we do this, they will most likely try to shift production to other countries, primarily in Central Asia. We must be ready to head them off by using satellites to monitor drugs plantations. Europe and Russia have the technology and the resources for this,” Arlacchi said.

ROME, June 7 (RIA Novosti correspondent Sergei Startsev)