By SAYED YAQUB IBRAHIMI The Institute for War & Peace Reporting
BADAKHSHAN, Afghanistan — The bazaar sits on a small island in the middle of the Panj River, the shallow waterway that serves as the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan. On either side loom the Pamir Mountains, a range of high peaks that cuts the region off from the rest of the world.
When the bazaar first opened five years ago, people on both sides of the border cheered the opportunity for commerce to flourish between the two countries.
And flourish it has: the Panj bazaar has become one of the largest arms-for-drugs trading centers in the world.
Behind the concrete walls that surround the 2,000-square-meter selling area, Taliban insurgents, militants and suspected al-Qaeda members trade their heroin for Russian-made weapons that will be used in conflicts throughout the region.
Of course, other goods are traded as well. Merchants from Tajikistan sell dried mulberries, apples and almonds; mangoes and tangerines grown in Afghanistan and Pakistan attract Tajik buyers. Buyers and sellers haggle over the price of inexpensive clothing piled high in numerous stalls. But the real business of the bazaar is conducted behind the scenes. From the northern side of the border, smugglers bring in gemstones and weapons to exchange for high-quality Afghan heroin.
Business is booming, according to one Afghan trader who declined to allow his real name to be used.
“My income has doubled these days,” he said. “On the one hand, we are making money from heroin; on the other, we can take weapons into Afghanistan and make even more money selling them to arms smugglers from the south.” The exchange of weapons for drugs doesn’t actually occur at the bazaar, this trader explained. Instead, the bazaar serves as a meeting place where buyers and sellers haggle over price before agreeing to conduct the exchange at a different location.
“After we agree on a deal, we pay some money in advance and meet at a specified time to exchange the rest of the goods,” he said.
The price list is fairly standard, according to the smuggler.
Traders say the going rate is one kilogram of heroin for 10 late-model Kalashnikov rifles, with older weapons traded at 15 rifles per kilo.
Later, the traders will exchange five or six newer-model rifles with the Taliban for a kilo of heroin.
“Everybody benefits,” this trader said.
The arms-for-heroin trade is of course a risky business. “The location for exchanging large amounts of heroin and weapons is always kept secret,” this trader said. “If it’s a major deal, we take a lot of armed men with us to guarantee our security. Then we load the merchandise onto donkeys or mules.” The smugglers do not seem overly worried about police or other law enforcement officials. “We have armed supporters in the area who are in turn supported by some people in the authorities,” this trader said. “We also have old friends in the government, and everybody gets a cut of the deal.”
Mir Alam, another trader, has traveled all the way from the southeastern Afghan province of Nangarhar to trade drugs for weapons. And he makes it clear that he’s not concerned where the arms eventually end up.
“I am just looking for a good customer,” he said. “It isn’t important to us who it is. Most of the Taliban are good customers, but we also take these guns further into Pakistan, to the Landi Kotal market, where we sell them to international arms smugglers.” From Landi Kotal, located high in the Khyber Pass, the weapons make their way to groups all over the world, Mir Alam said.
“Landi Kotal is one of the largest arms markets in the region,” he said. “The mujahedeen and al-Qaida purchase weapons for Palestine, Kashmir and other battle fronts.”
Like other traders here, Alam said he prefers trading heroin for weapons rather than merely selling drugs for cash. “The exchange of arms for heroin makes a lot of money — more than we get from heroin smuggling alone,” he said. “Each time the weapons are exchanged for heroin, both sides get a profit from both arms and heroin. It’s a good trade. I know people who have luxury palaces in Dubai and other Arab countries thanks to this trade.”
On the other side of the border, Tajiks say their business is somewhat less lucrative.
“We really don’t make that much money out of this,” said one Tajik smuggler. “Our job is just to get the sacks of heroin across the border, then the Russian mafia comes with their vehicles, many of which have police insignia. They take the heroin and give us the guns. Then they take the drugs to Europe.” Of course, it’s not all profits.
Smugglers on both sides of the border say they routinely pay police and government officials substantial sums to turn a blind eye to the commerce. Smugglers say that high- ranking government officials in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as other countries in the region, are on their payroll.
The provincial government of Badakhshan freely admits that it has little control over gun- and drug-trafficking in the area. Many parts of this mountainous region are remote and inaccessible, and coupled with the tangled bureaucracy, it is all but impossible to curb the trade.
“Since the borders are administered directly by the Ministry of the Interior, I do not feel responsible,” said Afghan provincial governor Abdul Majid. “Badakhshan is like a fortress, and I do not have control over its gatekeeper.” Smugglers say there’s little incentive for governments in the region to prevent the trafficking of guns and heroin. The profits are simply too big.
“The weapons find their way to Arab countries, and the heroin finds its way to Europe, so the entire world is involved in the trade,” said the unnamed trader. “The local governments know they can’t do anything to stop it, so they just take their cut. And so do we.
“The people who buy weapons support poppy cultivation. There’s an agreement there, and things are getting better day by day.”
Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi is a reporter in Afghanistan who writes for The Institute for War & Peace Reporting, a nonprofit organization that trains journalists in areas of conflict. Readers may write to the author at the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, 48 Grays Inn Road, London WC1X 8LT, U.K.; Web site: www.iwpr.net. For information about IWPR’s funding, please go to http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?top—supporters.html.
(c) 2008, The Institute for War & Peace Reporting Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services
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