The UN reported in January that drug money flowed through banks, in an effort to provide liquidity.
Now comes a report that UK soldiers have seized opium in Afghanistan. This is merely the most recent event in what may prove to be one of the motivations behind the war on Afghanistan. Some who follow drug war news believe that the economic crisis is behind this seizure, just as the war was intended to rev up opium production in Afghanistan (as well as control oil/gas distribution via pipelines).
As the economic crisis and the banks plunge into the abyss of insolvency, and despite Secretary Geithner’s attempts to promulgate rescue plans, there is also maneuvering behind the scenes. The drug trade has always been a part of the economy, whether in the ‘shadow economy’ or the real economy, at street level.
The recent hoarding of opium, and seizure by UK troops, may be intended to drive up the price of a fix at street level, in order to quickly raise more funds to buy US Treasuries, in order to prop up the dollar. Heroin had become quite cheap in the years following the invasion of Afghanistan, and the planting of opium after ousting of the Taliban. Afghanistan currently supplies 92% of the world supply of heroin, which means that those who control Afghanistan can name their price (17,000 more tropps?). 44% of Afghanistan’s opium comes from Helmand, the home province of Hamid Karzai.
Here’s what intrigues me:
What if the price for a fix exceeds the ability of junkies to pay? With the economy collapsing, wage-earners losing their jobs, families becoming homeless, people selling their stuff on eBay, and pawning jewelry and electronics to pay for food, what happens when a junkie can’t ’earn’ enough in a day to support his habit? Are fences/pawn shops reducing what they pay for things, due to a glut, and lack of paying customers? How can ‘the powers that be’ expect to live off of the junkies forever? What happens when we reach ‘Peak Junkies’?