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FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELARAM II, Nimruz province, Afghanistan - Afghan Uniformed Police officers and local workers from the district of Delaram worked through the night to confiscate and seize nearly 300,000 pounds of illegal poppy seed, July 22.
A partnered patrol, consisting of the Delaram AUP and a Police Advisor Team from Regimental Combat Team 8, discovered the cache in the local marketplace, July 20.
“This discovery by the AUP represents a tremendous blow to the illicit economy and a significant setback to the finances of insurgents,” said Col. Eric M. Smith, the commanding officer of Regimental Combat Team 8.
The Afghan district governor of Delaram gave the order to his police force to seize and confiscate the cache later that morning, according to Lt. Sakhi, commander of the Delaram AUP.
“Counternarcotics operations and seizures are governed by the laws and authority of the Afghan government,” said Smith. “Our partners in the district government of Delaram made the right call. Their ability to complete this seizure demonstrates their ability to participate in the counterinsurgency fight.”
The AUP moved methodically through the marketplace searching shops for the identical 200 pound bags with green and red markings containing the poppy seed. Shops containing the poppy seed were marked with spray paint to allow for a rapid removal by hired civilian laborers. A red checkmark indicated a shop free of the illegal seed, and an “X” indicated that the contraband was contained within.
After the shops were identified local workers began the laborious task of removing each individual bag and stacking it for transport.
A smaller cache find on 15 July, by a partnered patrol, netted 225 bags of poppy seed and “scoring sticks” indicating the poppy would be used for opium production, according to 1st Lt. Phillip Saunders, the officer in charge for the Police Advisor Team partnered with the AUP.
This smaller find, combined with tips from locals, clued off the partnered forces to the large cache found July 20.
The discovery of this “poppy marketplace” coincides with the traditional poppy planting season that begins in September.
A total of 1,942 bags of illegal poppy seed were seized. Each bag weighed roughly 154 pounds, for a total of 299,689 pounds or 150 tons, making this find one of the largest finds in recent years.
Plans are in place to provide farmers, who would have purchased and planted the poppy seed to cultivate opium, with wheat seed according to Lt. Col. Daniel Wagner, the officer in charge for the 4th Civil Affairs Group detachment supporting RCT-8.
| Date Taken: | 07.23.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 07.23.2011 05:05 |
| Story ID: | 74197 |
| Location: | FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELARAM II, NIMRUZ PROVINCE,, AF |
| Web Views: | 637 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, Poppy seizure in Delaram, by MAJ Timothy Irish, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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