Afghan President Hamid Karzai hints that the U.S.-led invasion has set the ground for surge in drug production and organized crimes in his war-ravaged country.

The president emphasized at a ceremony on International Counter Narcotics Day that the unprecedented growth of Afghanistan's narcotics industry lay mostly at the feet of foreign countries with military presence in the country.
“We also know the drugs trade here is encouraged by foreigners and international mafia gangs,” Karzai said.
Drug production in the Central Asian country has increased dramatically since the U.S.-led invasion eight years ago.
The Afghan government sources say that NATO forces are taxing the production of opium in the regions under their control. The majority of drugs are stockpiled in provinces controlled by troops from the U.S., the UK, and Canada.
Although opium is known to be the major source of funding for the Taliban, it has been widely reported that opium production in Afghanistan has grown steadily and significantly since the U.S.-led invasion of the country eight years ago.
Opium production in the war-torn country almost doubled between 2005 and 2009. The UN says Afghanistan produces 7000 tons of opium per year, which accounts for more than 90 percent of the world's opium consumption.
Afghan opium is having a devastating impact on the world, reportedly blamed for death of thousands of its consumers.
According to statistics, Russia was the single largest consumer of heroin in 2008. Moscow blames NATO for the surge in heroin trafficking from Afghanistan to Russia.
Russia has repeatedly questioned the U.S.-led alliance's reluctance to eliminate poppy plantations in war-weary Afghanistan.
NATO has rejected Russian calls for it to eradicate poppy fields in Afghanistan. Moscow says Afghan heroin kills 30,000 Russians a year.
A NATO spokesman has said that the U.S.-led alliance cannot allow a situation where people in one of the world's poorest nations are left without means of livelihood and receive no compensation.
(Source: Press TV)
Photo: Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks during a ceremony to mark International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Kabul on June 26, 2010. (Reuters photo) -