阿富汗塔利班的海洛因和现金，是一场令人不安的战争 [美国媒体]

KABUL, Afghanistan— The labs themselves are simple, tucked into nondescript huts or caves: acouple-dozen empty barrels for mixing, sacks or gallon jugs of precursorchemicals, piles of firewood, a press machine, a generator and a water pumpwith a long hose to draw from a nearby well.

喀布尔，阿富汗——这些实验室本身很简单，藏在不起眼的棚屋或洞穴里：一打空桶，用来混合麻袋或加仑壶装的化学品、成堆的柴火，一台压力机、一台发电机和一个水泵，用软管从附近的井里抽出水来。

They are heroinrefining operations, and the Afghan police and American Special Forces keeprunning into them all over Afghanistan this year. Officials and diplomats areincreasingly worried that the labs’ proliferation is one of the most troublingturns yet in the long struggle to end the Taliban insurgency.That the country has consistently produced about 85 percent of the world’s opium, despite more than $8 billion spent by the United States alone to fight it over the years, is accepted with a sense of helplessness among counternarcotics officials.

他们的海洛因提炼行为，被阿富汗警察和美国特种部队今年在阿富汗各地不断地发现。政府官员和外交官非常担心，实验室的扩散是在结束塔利班叛乱的长期斗争中最令人不安的问题之一。尽管美国在过去的几年里已经花费了超过80亿美元用于对抗毒品，但这个国家一直在生产世界上85%的鸦片，这让禁毒官员们很无助。


 
For years, most ofthe harvest would be smuggled out in the form of bulky opium syrup that wasrefined in other countries. But now, Afghan and Western officials estimate thathalf, if not more, of Afghan opium is getting some level of processing in thecountry, either into morphine or heroin with varying degrees of purity.

多年来，大部分的收入都是通过向其他国家走私大量的鸦片浆得到的。但现在，阿富汗和西方官员估计，阿富汗鸦片的一半(或者更多更多)在该国得到了一定程度的加工，无论是吗啡还是海洛因，都有不同程度的纯度。

The refining makes the drug much easier to smuggle out into the supply lines to the West. And it is vastly increasing the profits for the Taliban, for whom the drug trade makes up at least 60 percent of their income, according to Afghan and Western officials.

提纯的毒品更容易走私到西方的供给线。根据阿富汗和西方官员的说法，塔利班的利润大大增加，毒品贸易占其收入的至少60%。

“Without drugs, this war would have been long over,” President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan said recently. “The heroin is a very important driver of this war.” “If an illiterate local Taliban commander in Helmand makes a million dollars a month now, what does he gain in time of peace?” one senior Afghan official said.Another official, Gen. Abdul Khalil Bakhtiar, Afghanistan’s deputy interior minister in charge of the counternarcotics police, said the insurgents had used the growing insecurity of the past two years to establish more refining labs, and move them closer to the opium fields.

阿富汗总统阿什拉夫·加尼日前表示：“没有毒品，这场战争早就结束了。海洛因是这场战争的一个非常重要的驱动力。” “如果一个在赫尔曼德省的当地塔利班指挥官一个月挣一百万美元，那么他在和平时期会得到什么呢?”一位阿富汗高级官员说。另一位官员、负责缉毒警察的阿富汗副内政部长阿卜杜拉·哈利勒·巴赫蒂亚将军说，叛乱分子利用过去两年不断增加的不安全感，建立了更多的提纯实验室，并使其更靠近鸦片田。

General Bakhtiar estimated last year that there were 400 to 500 labs in the country, mostly in regions controlled or contested by the Taliban. His forces have destroyed over 100 of them.But then he admitted, “They can build a lab like this in one day.”

巴赫蒂亚将军去年估计，在阿富汗有400到500个实验室，大部分在塔利班控制或争议的地区。他的部队已经摧毁了超过100个。但后来他承认，“他们可以在一天内建一个这样的实验室。”

Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said the group “had nothing to do” with processing heroin, and denied that major laboratories existed in the areas under its control.The Talibanhave long profited from the opium trade by taxing and providing securityfor producers and smugglers. But increasingly, the insurgents are directlygetting into every stage of the drug business themselves, rivaling some of themajor cartels in the region — and in some places becoming indistinguishablefrom them.

塔利班发言人Zabihullah Mujahid表示，该组织“与处理海洛因毫无关系”，并否认在其控制的地区存在主要实验室。长期以来，塔利班通过对生产者和走私者征税和提供安全保障，从鸦片贸易中获利。但越来越多的叛乱分子正直接进入毒品交易的各个阶段，在一些地方，他们与这些贩毒集团之间的关系变得难以区分。

The opium economyin Afghanistan grew to about $3 billion in 2016, almost doubling the previousyear’s total and amounting to about 16 percent of the country’s gross domesticproduct, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

根据联合国毒品和犯罪问题办事处的数据，阿富汗的鸦片经济在2016年间增长到大约30亿美元，几乎是前一年的两倍，约占该国国内生产总值的16%。

The increase inprocessing means the Taliban have been able to take a greater share of the $60billion that the global trade in the Afghan opium crop is estimated to beworth. Demand remains high in Europe and North America: Ninety percent of theheroin on the streets of Canada, and about 85 percent in Britain, can be tracedto Afghanistan, the State Department says.

加工的增加意味着塔利班已经能够在全球贸易中占比超过600亿美元，这是阿富汗鸦片种植的价值估计。美国国务院表示，欧洲和北美的需求仍然很高:在加拿大的街头90%的海洛因，在英国的85%，都可以追溯到阿富汗。

Despite the sizeof Afghanistan’s opium problem, not much is being done about it. Opiumeradication or interception got little attention in the Trump administration’snew strategy for the Afghan war.

尽管阿富汗的鸦片问题很严重，但目前没有多少人在做这件事。在特朗普政府的阿富汗战争新战略中，对鸦片的根除和阻断还没有引起足够的重视。

Various policeforces bear the brunt of the drug war in Afghanistan, but areoften complicit in the opium trade themselves, feeding corruptnetworks within the Afghan government, both locally and nationally.

各种各样的警察部队在阿富汗的毒品战争中首当其冲，但他们经常在鸦片贸易中串通一气，在阿富汗政府所有的当地和全国范围内提供腐败网络。

The fight todisrupt the flow of Afghan drugs to Western and regional capitals, and cash tothe coffers of the Taliban, has largely fallen on a small police unit, theNational Interdiction Unit, of about 450 to 600 commandos who are mentored byAmerican Special Forces.

为了阻止阿富汗毒品流入西方和地区首府，也为了阻止资金到塔利班的金库，这场战斗落在了一个小型警察部门——国家封锁部队身上，他们大约有450到600名受过美国特种部队指导的突击队员。

“We have to mergethese two things together — the counterterrorism and the counternarcotics. Ithas to go hand in hand, because if you destroy one, it is going to destroy theother,” said Javid Qaem, the Afghan deputy minister of counternarcotics.

“我们必须把这两者结合起来——反恐和反毒品。”这必须共同行动，因为如果你摧毁了一个，那也将摧毁另一个，”阿富汗反毒品部副部长Javid Qaem说。

Mr. Qaem said thesituation could improve if opium crop eradication efforts factored more intothe planning of security operations. He gave the example of Helmand Province,where eradication operations were attempted, but only started after this year’scrop had been harvested.

卡姆说，如果根除鸦片作物的努力更多地考虑到安全行动的规划，情况可能会有所改善。他举了赫尔曼德省的例子，在那里进行了根除行动，但仅仅是在今年的作物收割之后才开始。

“In Helmand, wewere targeting to do more than 2,000 to 3,000 hectares of eradication,” Mr.Qaem said. “We couldn’t do anything there, none at all, because Helmand wasalmost an active battlefield, the entire province.”

“在赫尔曼德，我们的目标是清除2000到3000公顷的土地作物，”卡姆说。“我们在那里根本什么也做不了，因为赫尔曼德省整个省几乎是一个活跃的战场。”

At the provinciallevel, counternarcotics officials have proved far from trustworthy, theirdirectors often appointed by local strongmen or vulnerable to their influence.

在省级层面，禁毒官员被证明远非信得过的人，他们的领导通常是由地方铁腕人物任命或受到他们的影响。

A seniorcounternarcotics official in Kabul, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoidreprisals, recounted how the elite unit was painstakingly following a networkof money launderers in one opium-rich province who were helping to import thechemicals needed for refining heroin. The officers finally had enough evidenceto make a high-level arrest, nabbing one of the network’s leaders — only tolose him when a powerful police commander personally stepped in to set thesuspect free.

一位不愿透露姓名避免报复的驻喀布尔的高级缉毒官员讲述了精英部队如何艰难地在一个鸦片富裕的省份追踪一个洗钱者网络，他们正在帮助进口提炼海洛因所需的化学品。警察终于有足够的证据来逮捕一名网络头目，但当一名警察指挥官亲自介入，将嫌犯释放时，他牺牲了。

In thatenvironment, the small National Interdiction Unit, sequestered in a securemountainside base in Kabul, has been one of the surest bets in striking againstthe opium and heroin networks. And even that has not been foolproof: Its topcommander was replaced recently for failing a polygraph test and “was probablyleaking information to hostile forces,” according to a report by the U.S.Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. The force alsohas a one-stop-shop justice center, advised by the British.

在这种环境下，在喀布尔的一个安全的山腰基地有一个小型国家封锁部队，一直是打击鸦片和海洛因网络的最可靠的赌注之一。甚至这也不是万无一失的:根据美国阿富汗重建特别监察长的一份报告，它的最高指挥官最近因未能进行测谎测试而被替换，而且“很有可能将信息泄露给敌方部队”。该部队也有一个一站式的司法中心，由英国提供咨询。

A United StatesArmy Special Forces member working with the unit said advisers accompanied theAfghan force on about 30 percent of its operations. Those usually end up aslarger-scale raids in Taliban areas, requiring a more complex approach. “The Talibanderives its funding from the narcotics taxing, sales and trafficking,” said theadviser, who, like other Special Forces members, spoke on condition that hisname not be used. “It is a priority: We are specifically after denying Talibantheir revenue.”

一名与该部队合作的美国陆军特种部队成员说，顾问陪同阿富汗部队大约30%的行动。这些通常是以塔利班地区规模更大的袭击告终，需要采取更复杂的做法。“塔利班从毒品征税、销售和贩卖中获得资金，”顾问说，他和其他特种部队成员一样，条件是不使用他的名字。“这是一个优先事项：特别是在夺取塔利班的收入之后。"

The elite forcesand their American advisers, often flying up to six helicopters from Kabul,operate at night. They land miles away from the target to avoid fire, and thenmake their way by foot.

精英部队和他们的美国顾问，经常乘坐6架直升机从喀布尔起飞，在夜间活动。他们在远离目标的几英里以外的地方着陆避免火力，然后徒步行走。

Still, the raids rarely, if ever, result in arrests; the suspects often flee as soon as they hear the motors. The operations last no more than a few hours, culminating with the torching of the drugs and equipment after a process of documentation.

尽管如此，袭击很少发生，如果有，就会将他们逮捕。嫌疑犯一听到马达声就逃跑了。行动不超过几个小时，在记录之后就会烧毁他们的毒品和设备。

There are other indicators that more opium is being processed within Afghanistan, officials say, including data from the drug seizures and the amount of chemicals needed for the processing.

官员们说，还有其他迹象表明，阿富汗境内还在加工更多的鸦片，其中包括缴获的毒品和所需化学品数量的相关数据。

In previous years, the amount of opium seized in Afghanistan would far outnumber, by at least five times, the processed morphine and heroin. In 2015, for example, about 30,000 kilograms, or 66,000 pounds, of opium was seized, compared with a little over 5,000 kilograms, or 11,000 pounds, of heroin and morphine combined.

在过去的几年里，阿富汗缴获的鸦片数量将远远超过经过加工的吗啡和海洛因的至少五倍。例如，在2015，缴获了大约30000公斤，即66000磅鸦片，相比之下，海洛因和吗啡的量略高于5000公斤，即11000磅。

So far in 2017, the seizure numbers seem flipped, officials say: The amount of heroin and morphine, both requiring some level of processing, combined is almost double that of opium.

到目前为止，在2017年，缴获量似乎翻了一番，官员说：海洛因和吗啡都需要一定程度的加工，其数量几乎是鸦片的两倍。

The Afghan government said that so far this year it had seized about 73 tons of the chemical precursors needed for processing. That number for all of 2015 was just a little over 1.4 tons of solid and close to 5,000 liters, or about 1,300 gallons, of liquid precursors. One recent shipment alone, which cleared customs and was caught being transferred to another vehicle when agents found it, could have made 15 tons of heroin.

阿富汗政府表示，今年到目前为止，他们已经查获了大约73吨用于加工的化学品。2015年的这一数字仅略高于1.4吨的固体，和接近5000升(约1300加仑)液体。仅在最近的一次运输中，就有可能制造了15吨的海洛因，这些货物在海关发现后被转移到另一辆汽车上。

If the initial data is any indication, the 2017 poppy harvest was another record year, Afghan officials say. Eradication was abysmal, with security forces unable to even raze fields in Sarobi, just 50 miles from the presidential palace in Kabul.

阿富汗官员说，如果初步的数据有任何表象的话，那就是2017年的罂粟收成将是另一个创纪录的年份。彻底根除是一件非常糟糕的事，安全部队甚至无法将距喀布尔总统府50英里的萨比奥(Sarobi)地区夷为平地。

Mr. Qaem, the deputy minister, said that just as eradication efforts were about to begin in Kabul District, the district’s leadership was changed. And workers were hard to find: They had to be brought in from other provinces, as the local laborers would not destroy their neighbors’ fields.

副部长卡姆说，就像根除行动计划在喀布尔地区开始时一样，该地区的领导层也发生了变化。工人们很难找到:他们必须从其他省份引进，因为当地的劳工不会破坏他们邻居的田地。

But the biggest problem was hidden Taliban bombs, he said. Each day, before laborers could destroy the fields, demining teams had to first clear them of explosives.

他说，最大的问题是塔利班埋的炸弹。每天，在劳工摧毁农田之前，排雷队必须首先清除爆炸物。

“It seemed easy — it was Kabul,” Mr. Qaem said. “But it was tough. It was almost a war there, every day.”

卡姆说：“这看起来很容易——但这里是喀布尔，”。“但这是也艰难的。这里几乎每一天都是一场战争。