Afghanistan begins arresting drug smugglers in earnest

During 1972, Afghanistan put more effort into pursuing drug smugglers, with new anti-smuggling units and rising arrests. The campaign developed as foreign demand connected the country’s hashish trade to larger international markets and American officials pressed for stronger action.

Hashish joined international trading networks

Historian James Bradford describes a change in the people buying Afghan hashish. Travellers buying small amounts were joined by organised, well-financed groups seeking substantial supplies for Western markets. Some buyers wanted hash oil, which could concentrate the product and make it easier to transport and conceal.

This demand mattered to farmers and merchants as well as foreign consumers. The market around Chicken Street formed part of a trade reaching beyond Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries. Rural producers encountered buyers capable of financing larger operations.

New units pursued smugglers

Bradford records the transfer of counternarcotics work to the interior ministry and the creation of units tasked with pursuing Afghan traffickers. Reported drug-smuggler arrests rose from 72 in 1971 to 221 in 1972 and 584 in 1973.

The different substances also drew different outside interests. Afghan opium was important to the Iranian market, while American agents increasingly focused on hashish reaching Western consumers. Bradford argues that the priorities complicated cooperation between enforcement authorities.

The 1970 Kabul hotel raid had already brought foreign nationals into the enforcement story. Increasing arrests now placed Afghan smugglers more visibly within it.

Shafiq promised stronger action late in the year

A State Department memorandum dated 18 December 1972 recorded new prime minister Musa Shafiq’s parliamentary promise of stronger measures against narcotics trafficking. He also proposed a programme against illicit opium cultivation with foreign assistance.

The American author credited embassy pressure for the priority Shafiq gave drugs. The memorandum captures that assessment and the government’s public commitment near the end of the year.

A larger campaign left an enduring market

Bradford concludes that the rising arrests did little to stop the trade overall. Foreign demand, opportunities for farmers and merchants, and the government’s need for outside support continued to shape enforcement.

The renewed prohibition reported in 1973 followed that increase in arrests and political attention. Enforcement was becoming more visible while the economic connections sustaining Afghanistan’s cannabis trade continued to develop.^[1][2]