The CIA was in full command of the region and purposely allowed the illegal drugs trade to flourish.

Gen. Fazle Huq, the commander of the NWFP, was arrested for covering up his own brother's drug trafficking. General Huq's personal pilot, Maj. Farooq Hamid, was arrested on heroin-trafficking charges. As early as 1983, Norwegian customs officials had arrested a Pakistani smuggling a large quantity of heroin. A follow-on investigation led to the indictment of Hamid Hasnain, the vice president of the Pakistan government's Habib Bank. Hasnain was the personal account manager for President Zia. The drug crackdown was short-lived, however. When General Zia's former finance minister, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, became President of Pakistan, many of the indictments were overturned or never prosecuted. Ghulam Ishaq Khan had been General Zia's liaison to the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, serving as the president of the BCCI Foundation, the "charity" through which drug money was laundered, and bribes were paid out.

2- Narcotics and the Afghan War

All of transcript of John Gunther Dean's oral history of his ambassadorship in India at the Jimmy Carter library is worth reading.

The boom in the poppy growing and heroin refineries in Pakistan and Afghanistan coincided with the beginning of the Afghan War in early 1990. Madame Benazir Bhutto, then Prime Minister of Pakistan, said that "today Pakistan society is dominated by the culture of heroin and the kalatchnikof rifle" . With drugs came arms. But who had heard in the United States, in 1985 when I arrived in New Delhi, about the role of General Zia-ul-Haq's adopted son and drug smuggling? Yet, in December 1983, a young Pakistani was arrested at Oslo airport with 3.5 kilos of heroin. It eventually led back to the President of Pakistan's involvement in drug smuggling.

Even as the U.S. Government was congratulating in 1984 General Zia-ul-Haq for helping control narcotics traffic, the Police of Pakistan, under Norwegian pressure, arrested Hamid Hasnain, the "adopted son" of General Zia, who turned out to be a kingpin in the drug running mafia. In Hasnain's possession were found cheque books and bank statements of Zia-ul-Haq and his family. I am relating these facts here not to undermine General Zia's reputation but to demonstrate the linkage of drug dealing with arms to fight the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and how we interacted with these criminals to achieve our own ends, i.e., the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan and the toppling of the communist regime led by Najib Boulla in Kabul.

On the Norwegian bust of the Pakistani drug smuggling ring, I rely on the detailed newspaper article which appeared in the TIMES OF INDIA. Please note that the author is an American journalist, formerly the South Asia correspondent of the FAR EASTERN ECONOMIC REVIEW and later working on special assignment with the New York publication THE NATION.

3- BCCI, THE CIA AND FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE

http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/11intel.htm


For further reading:

Pak-Afghan Drug Trade in Historical Perspective Ikramul Haq Asian Survey, Vol. 36, No. 10 (Oct., 1996), pp. 945-963 This article consists of 19 page(s).

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0004-4687(199610)36%3A10%3C945%3APDTIHP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-7

Drug Mafia in Pakistan

But in the process he failed to anticipate its repercussions on Pakistan. Heroin addiction spread like an epidemic during his martial administration. The UNDCP report confirms that there were 1.5 to 1.9 million drug addicts in Pakistan in 1993. 7 The regime, which was popular for its iron hand did not control free distribution of heroin and hashish in universities and colleges in Peshawar, Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi where these drugs were cheaply available for Rupees 15 to 60 per packet depending on their purity. 8 During this time drug traffickers operated freely and became billionaries within a short span of time and organised themselves as syndicates on the same lines as the Latin American drug barons. They established contacts in the law enforcement agencies, funded political parties, used economic platforms and bribed officers to maintain production and supply of narcotic drugs in the international market.

General Zia's involvement in drug trafficking came to light only after his death when the Minister of State for Narcotics, Mian Muzaffar Shah revealed that Pakistani drug syndicates grew under the patronage of General Zia. Raza Qureshi, a Pakistan drug trafficker who was arrested by the Norwegian Police at Oslo's Fornebu Airport in 1984, exposed Zia's drug connection. The Norwegian Police disclosed three names of Pakistani nationals-Tahir Butt, Munawar Hussain and Hamid Hussain patronised by General Zia. 9 The Norwegian Police visited Islamabad to investigate the matter and indicted these three for drug crimes. But the Pakistan government did not arrest them because of their political connections. Finally, when the Norwegian government complained against inaction by the law enforcement agencies and threatened diplomatic action, these three were arrested.

One of the culprits, Hamid Hussain was not only the vice president of Government owned Habib Bank, but was as close as a son to the wife of General Zia ul Haq. He handled Zia's account and used banking channels to launder drug proceeds. The most startling revelation that confirmed Zia's drug connection was the case of one of his ADCs, whose name was not disclosed. The ADC concealed heroin in 100 precious lamps to be gifted by General Zia to the delegates at a special session of the UN General Assembly. General Zia suddenly changed his programme to travel via Iran and Iraq. In the process of shifting his baggage one of the lamps broke spreading heroin at New York Airport. Apparently the customs official checked all the lamps which were filled with heroin and seized them. 10

The former Chief Minister and Governor of NWFP, Lt. General Fazle Haque is another important drug dealer who dominated Pakistani drug syndicates. Popularly known as the Noriega of Pakistan, Haque was responsible for promoting growth of the drug industry in the Swat Valley of NWFP. He successfully organised transshipment of heroin from Pakistan to the international market through business contacts.

Obviously during Zia's tenure drugs played an important role in decision-making. After his sudden death in a plane crash in August 1988, Gulam Ishaq Khan, a close associate of Zia, took over. An Ismaili Pathan from NWFP civil services he rose to prominence during Zia's time. His involvement in narcotics started after he joined the provincial civil service of NWFP and became a close associate of General Zia. He and the Chief of Army Staff General Aslam Beg worked together for the growth of the drug industry at the Pak-Afghan border. His drug connection came to light during the investigation of the biggest bank fraud in the world namely, the BCCI. Aslam Beg and Ishaq Khan became very close and strongly advocated the idea of Pakistan's decision to join the race for nuclear power. In the name of the Islamic Bomb they generated money from Arab countries and got away from the drug money laundered by BCCI. It is relevant to note that they founded an institute called Gulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, which was the main recipient of funds from BCCI. In the name of funds, for a nuclear bomb, the duo promoted growth of narcotic drugs in the Golden Crescent. 11

The situation, however, did not change when Benazir Bhutto came to power. She exposed General Zia because it suited her political agenda. Her husband Zardari is well known for his criminal connections and her government was dismissed on corruption charges. In so far as Benazir's Peoples Party (PPP) is concerned, during personal interaction with Pakistani prisoners under NDPS Act languishing in Jammu Central Jail, the author was told that the PPP members were directly involved in the drugs trade. The prisoner himself was a cousin of PPP's Lahore President. Lahore is one of the centres for narcotic drugs trade in Pakistan.

Hazi Iqbal Beg is another important Pakistani drug dealer with political connections. A Lahore based landlord and owner of innumerable business enterprises he organised a powerful drug syndicate. Beg along with his partners, Sohail But (brother-in-law of Nawaz Sharif) and Shaukat Ali Bhatti were elected members of the Punjab Legislative Assembly on the ticket of Islamic Jahmuri Ittehad (IJI), a political party formed by an ISI Chief General Hamid Gul. Nawaz Sharif maintained close association with Beg and helped him acquire denationalised industrial units including the Muslim Commercial Bank where he (Sharif) is a benami partner. 12 Beg continued to nurture his ties with the Pakistani premier and simultaneously funded election of Mehraj Khalid of PPP who later became Chief Minister of Punjab. Beg thus remained loyal to both Sharif and Benazir. After the fall of Benazir's government he was charge-sheeted for narcotic drugs smuggling. However, his close association with Sharif got him released on bail.

Another equally important drug dealer Malik Waris Khan Afridi, was appointed by Benazir as Minister of state for Tribal Affairs. He was elected on a PPP ticket from Khyber Agency (N-33, Tribal Areas VII) in 1988. His commitment to PPP was so strong that he tried to save her government by bribing members against the no confidence motion tabled by Nawaz Sharif in 1989. After the fall of the Benazir government he was convicted for smuggling of opium and hashish from Khyber Agency.

These are some of the many instances of the drug syndicate's control over Pakistan politics. There are hundreds of political leaders into drug business in Pakistan. The very fact that South West Asia (Pak-Afghan) is the biggest supplier of heroin to the international market and that Pakistan earns US $1.5 billion (UNDCP, 1993 estimate) from export of refined heroin substantiate that the narcotic drugs trade goes on under the nose of government law enforcement agencies. Since political leaders are beneficiaries of the international drug trade, it is not possible to keep intelligence and army away from the scene especially in the light of the fact that these two play a significant role in Pakistan politics.

The ISI is the key to intelligence services in Pakistan. It holds political clout and is the most important cell in decision-making. It operates in collaboration with the military intelligence known as Field Intelligence Unit (FIU). Its importance could be analysed from the fact that Hamid Gul, the former Chief of ISI launched a political party called Islami Jahmuri Ittehad as mentioned earlier, its candidates became members of state and national assemblies. The drug connection of the army and intelligence services came to light when at the instance of Robert Oakley, the US Ambassador to Pakistan, Benazir ordered investigation into the BCCI bungling. The entire exercise turned into an eye wash when Mirza Iqbal Beg, was released on bail despite ample evidence of his involvement. It is believed that Benazir could not cope with the military and ISI interference. An American scholar, Selig Harrison, rightly said that Pakistan has ten Noriega's very high up in military and it was very difficult to disclose their names. 13 The genesis of this unholy alliance of narcotic drugs, army and intelligence goes back to 1978 when the US government launched its combat mission against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The US analysts have now awoken to the problem of narco-terrorism in this region. They were the first to use it during 1970s and 80s against the Soviet expansionism. As a matter of fact the US government encouraged drug trafficking to raise funds for Mujahideen fighting against the Soviets. The DEA had to close its offices in Afghanistan and Pakistan during 1980s by order. The CIA was in full command of the region and purposely allowed the illegal drugs trade to flourish. 14

The drug connection of the ISI and army got cultivated in the fertile land of poppy. Landi Kotal, the capital of NWFP, is the main centre for business transaction of opium, heroin and weapons. Officially the opium bazaars at Landi Kotal, Jamrud, Bara, Darra Adam Khel and the entire poppy growing fields constitute part of Pakistan. In practice the situation is not the same. The NWFP falls under direct jurisdiction of local tribes namely-Afridi, Khatake, Wazirs, Orakzai, Banggash, Turis and Mashuds. Drugs and guns are part and parcel of their socio-economic and political life. As mentioned earlier narcotic drugs are the main source of their income, which is promoted by the tribal administration in an organised network. The Pakistan government would invite trouble if they intervene in their local affairs. 15 Therefore, it exercises control though the ISI and army, whose presence has brought changes in the tribal economy in the region. With the help of ISI agents and army personnel several refineries were set up to produce heroin, which is in great demand in the Western market. Ever since the ISI and the army came into the picture, opium refining techniques have become more sophisticated in this region. Chinese chemists were hired for refining laboratories at Landi Kotal and Derra to improve the quality and production. The DEA also confirmed that by 1981, the Chinese have established themselves in refining laboratories in this region. 16 The very fact that the American and the European markets are flooded with heroin from Afghanistan and Pakistan reemphasises growth of the drug industry in this region. This was not possible without the collaboration of the ISI and the army.