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Thousands will die in Europe if poppies not grown in Afghanistan: Spanish official
A Spanish newspaper has reported that the drastic drop in poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has opened a gap for fentanyl in Europe.
A report from the European Drug Monitoring Center warns of the risk that a possible lack of global supply will be replaced with “more harmful synthetic opiates, such as fentanyl derivatives or nitazenes,” El Pais reported.
“We have no indication that there are synthetic opiates in Spain, but we are all watching with bated breath,” said the government delegate for the National Plan on Drugs, Joan Villalbí.
“The Taliban (IEA) announced that they would ban opium cultivation. We didn’t know if it would be for real or just for show. Now we have the first warnings that it could be happening,” sayid Villalbí. The document also points out another risk that comes from the lack of drugs: an increase in “polysubstances” among heroin users.
“It is a window of opportunity,” admits Barcelona’s chief investigative commissioner Ramon Chacón. “They call it the chaos theory: if poppies are not grown in Kabul, thousands of people will die in Europe,” he said, about the consequences that a hypothetical heroin shortage would have on European markets, with consumers who would move on to more dangerous alternatives. But he insisted that the data so far refute that this scenario is immediately looming over Europe.
Opium poppy production in Afghanistan, previously the world’s top supplier, plummeted by 95 percent since the IEA banned the cultivation of narcotics in 2022, a United Nations report said last year.
IEA has said that it seriously fighting against cultivation and trafficking in Afghanistan.
It has assured countries not to have concerns over the smuggling of drugs from Afghanistan, but help farmers with alternatives.
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Tornadoes strike US South, killing 33 people amid rising risk
In Arkansas, three deaths occurred, the state’s Department of Emergency Management said, adding that there were 32 injuries.
Tornadoes killed at least 33 people across several states in the U.S. Midwest and Southeast on Saturday night, with at least 12 fatalities reported in Missouri, CNN reported.
More than 500 homes, a church and grocery store in Butler County were destroyed and a mobile home park had been “totally destroyed,” Robbie Myers, the director of emergency management for Missouri’s Butler County said.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves posted on X that six deaths had been reported in the state.
According to preliminary assessments, 29 people were injured statewide and 21 counties sustained storm damage, Reeves said.
In Arkansas, three deaths occurred, the state’s Department of Emergency Management said, adding that there were 32 injuries.
Twenty-six tornadoes were reported but not confirmed to have touched down late on Friday night and early on Saturday as a low-pressure system drove powerful thunderstorms across parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi and Missouri, said David Roth, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center.
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UN Security Council to vote on extension of UNAMA mission in Afghanistan
The council said in a report that if approved, the mandate would extend the UNAMA mission for another year without changing its mandate and priorities.
The UN Security Council announced it is scheduled to vote on Monday 17 March on a draft resolution to extend the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, for another year.
The council said in a report that if approved, the mandate would extend the UNAMA mission for another year without changing its mandate and priorities.
According to the report, the draft mandate specified for UNAMA, for another year, include human rights, especially the rights of women and girls, women, peace and security, the economic and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, terrorism, drug trafficking, small arms, internally displaced persons and refugees, and the effects of natural disasters.
The UN Security Council said that all 15 permanent and non-permanent members of the council are expected to support it.
This comes after the Islamic Emirate recently called the UNAMA mission in Afghanistan a “failure.”
Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Islamic Emirate, accused UNAMA of providing “negative and inaccurate” reports on the situation in Afghanistan.
Mujahid said that UNAMA’s reports had created a “negative mindset” towards Afghanistan within the UN.
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