PAKISTAN -
Drug Growers


Mosque/river
crescent moon

    V/O
00.05.15   
It's the sign Muslims have been waiting for. The silver of a new moon, heralding the end of Ramadan - Islam's most holy month.

The long days of fasting are finally over, and in Pir Babar - as across Pakistan's poppy-growing region - it's time to celebrate.

05.45
Smoking hashish and opium may not fit our idea of a respectable religious celebration. But for the Pashtun tribes whose livelihood depends on the poppy, this is an ancestral - even spiritual pursuit.

06.02
Only here could you find the reputed descendent of a saint proudly heading up a hash den.


But there's little joy for the government in scenes like this.


For Pakistan, hashish and opium have become a curse. One they've targeted with a holy war. But in taking on the Pashtun, the casualties may well be high.


These are the mountains and valleys of the North Western Frontier Province - home to the Pashtun and opium poppy.
Mountain
Scenics
Enough poppy is grown here to produce 180 tonnes of opium - or 18 tonnes of pure heroin.

To see how the Holy War was going, we headed for the Nihag Valley - a pashtun stronghold and the countries single largest opium growing area.          

07.08
Nihag Chief
Fez Mohammed is the chief of Dogram, the first village we encounted. He's also one of the communities largest and most vocal poppy farmers, who goes nowhere without his armed guards.

I/V    Fez Mohammed - Village Chief
For 30 years we've been growing poppies. Our major source of livelihood is first God, then opium.

           07.35
For Fez Mohammed opium is not a drug, but a cash crop. Although he grows some wheat and onions, with an extended family of 33, he says could NOT survive without opium.

Half an acre of wheat - the paltry size of most land holdings here brings in only one thousand rupees, US$33. This opium crop earns 20 times that.
A few years ago, these farmers and other Pashtuns fought the government over forestry concessions. Ninety people were killed. According to Fez Mohammed, that's nothing compared with what will happen if the government tries to destroy their poppy crops.

    08.23
I/V    Fez Mohammed - Village Chief
The Pashtun tribes were born of the same parents and they are ready to die in one trench because they have the same demand. You can't use force to stop our tribes from growing poppy. This is what I believe.

08.36
I/V    Nawaz Malik - Pakistan Narcotics Control Board
(Yes) we are concerned about that but our first effort will be to persuade them firmly
V/O   
Nawaz Malik coordinates the 14 agencies involved in Pakistan's anti-drug crusade. He doesn't want to fight the farmers - but says he will if he has to.
   
    08.53
I/V    Nawaz Malik
If the situation demands then I think the government is determined to use force also.

DARRA    Guns being fried.

    09.06
    Not only do the Pashtun have the will to fight - they also have the means.
Streets
This is Darra, the arms capital of the North Western Frontier Province. Pakistan's version of Dodge City.
Gun Shop
You can buy anything you want here - and people do. From pen guns to rocket launchers. But the weapon of choice, is the AK47 - the Kalashnikov

I/V     Gun Shop Owner
This is Ak47

The Kalashnikov is known as the jewellery of the Pushtun. By the age of ten every boy has one - and knows how to use it. They're everywhere and they're cheap.

    09.53
I/V    Gun Shop Owner
    - It is 20,000 rupes.
    - Around US$460
    - Yes

Nursery Sequence   

    10.03
    Facing the very real threat of armed resistance the Pakistani government is trying the softly softly approach to wiping out opium.

Through nurseries such as this , the government is encouraging farmers to substitute opium with other crops - such as oranges.

The United Nations and US have pumped millions of dollars into such projects - as well as into road construction and irrigation. but with little success.

    10.34
    For the people of Dogram, however, the alternatives to opium just don't stack up. 'Industry and jobs' - not oranges - are the buzz words ringing across the poppy belt. And Fez Mohammed says they'll accept nothing less.

I/V    Fez Mohammed - Village Chief
We don't expect the government to fight us, we expect them to help us develop.
If the government can build factories for us and help develop our area then it will be a matter of pride for the Pashtuns to stop growing poppy.

11.09
But James Magnor - the US narcotics attache in Pakistan, says that's unrealistic given Pakistan's budget.

I/V    James Magnor - US Narcotics Attache
    80 percent of their last years budget was designated for military expenditure and debt service. That leaves precious little left over for, well, education, narcotics control and other things, that need to be attended to.

    11.36
I/V    Nawaz Malik
We need a lot more funds to strengthen anti-narcotics enforcement arrangements. Definitely need a lot more force, need helicopters for them, we need high-powered vehicles for them and weapons and communication equipment. That will enable them to put up a better fight.

Jirgas
    With few resources this is how the Pakistani authorities are fighting the drug war - through traditional talk fests, called jirgas.
    Here Azmat Orakzai, the District Commissioner of Dir is trying to convince local tribal elders that it's in their best interests to destroy the poppy crop.

    It's a carrot and stick process that can last weeks, even months. But finally today has got the go ahead he's after.

    12.39
I/V    Azmat Orakzai - District Commissioner
    We have to move altogether. If any changes occur - a sudden change - we should be prepared for that.

    12.48
    A deal struck and the police move off to destroy the chosen poppy fields.

This operation is small - sometimes there are 500 police. Clearly the government is targetting this farmer because he’s unable to fight back - unlike those we'd met in Dogram.

Over the past five years, the country's poppy crop has jumped 30 percent from it's low of five and a half thousand hectares - despite the governments mix of gentle - and not so gentle persuasion.

Even those farmers who can't fight back - don't take destruction like this lying down.

I/V    Farmer
    I say about this thing, they should compensate me for this loss because  we have worked hard on this crop. The government must do something for us. If it doesn't we will grow ten times more poppy next year.

Question    How difficult has it been to convince people to destroy their poppy crop.

I/V    Azmat Orakzai - DC
     This is a very pertinent question and as you saw, you just saw a glimpse of it, it's not an easy task.
   
    It's a tough job, but I don't think at this stage it can be termed as a losing battle.

    14.18
    The streets tell a different story. In Pakistan one in every 11 males over the age of 15 is a drug addict.
    These people have no trouble getting supplies.

Addict Smoking
    Opium from Afghanistan and places like the Nihag Valley is smuggled into the remote tribal areas of the North Western Frontier Province. There in 100 secret laboratories, it's turned into heroin.

    It's these labs which are the nub of Pakistan's heroin problem - they cerate the demand for opium poppy. But because of a century old pact with the Pashtun the government is having real difficulty shutting the labs down.
   
    15.15
PTC    This is the Khyber Agency. The tribal area bordering Afghanistan where the bulk of Pakistan's heroin is produced. It's no secret this is a drug haven, but there’s little the authorities can do except look on. At this point Pakistani law ends and tribal law takes over. Which means heroin can be bought and sold with relative impunity.

Trucks
    Behind these gates, tribal elders rule - not the Pakistani government. Khyber is one of eight districts where the Pashtun have held onto tribal law under an agreement signed with the British Raj.

    No Pakistani government has been game to challenge this -
    fearing a violent successionist battle.

Secret Filming
    16.02
    We were allowed to travel a short way into Khyber Agency - but had to film secretly.
Zoom
    Bags of hashish swung from shop awnings. And people were only too willing to tell us what was available.

Hash Seller    Hash Seller
    - Hello, how much hashish is here
    - 50 grams
    - 50 grams and how much does that cost?
    - 1000 rupees

    That's only US$33. While heroin was not on display we were told its easy to get - and inexpensive. 

   
Hash Seller    And how much does it cost?
    - 20 rupees per gram. 

Magnor    If Pakistani authorities moved decisively against heroin manufacturers in Khyber Agency, shut down labs, there'd be no incentive for farmers to continue growing poppy and the problem might go away.

    17.22
Poppy Fields    The Pakistani Government has had some success in its opium war.  But not much.

    The Pashtun will still grow poppy until they're given a viable alternative - an alternative that looks a long way off.

Slashing
    So the battle goes on.

    It's a solution that satisfies no one.  The Pashtun stand to lose a livelihood, while the government risks an armed rebellion.

    18.01
Heroin Addict   
    Meanwhile, the heroin labs continue to harvest their deadly crop.  And the number of addicts keeps growing.


ENDS    18.22