The Pashtun Mafia

It is said of the Pashtun, that most warlike of Afghan tribes, that "they are only at peace when they are at war."

Pashtun or ethnic Afghans, are an Eastern Iranian ethno-linguistic group with populations primarily in Afghanistan and in the North-West Frontier Province, In Afghanistan, the Pashtun make up an estimated 42% of the population or 13.3 million people. The vast majority of Pashtun are found in an area stretching from southeastern Afghanistan to northwestern Pakistan. The Pashtun are typically characterized by their usage of the Pashto language and practice of Pashtunwali, which is an ancient traditional code of conduct and honor. For over 250 years, they reigned as the dominant ethnic group in Afghanistan.

Since the Taliban issued a ban on opium production, the "Pashtun Mafia", one of the world's leaders in opium sales, production has been down as much as 90%. Since Afghanistan is the world's #1 opium producer, with revenue of nearly 64 billion dollars, The Pashtun cartel (many of whom are leaders in the Karzai government, are NOT happy. The Taliban regime must go. But the drug producers don't want the U.N. or U.S. Forces occupying Afghanistan either. With billions of dollars and corrupt government leaders at their disposal, The Pashtun Mafia has assembled an army of mercenaries to rid themselves of both the Taliban and the U.S. involvement. Not above cutting deals and making alliances with either side, the opium based empire is looking out only for themselves and their profits and to come out the winner.

Opium production in Afghanistan

In 2000, the Taliban had issued a ban on opium production, which led to reductions in Pashtun Mafia opium production by as much as 90%. Soon after the 2001 U.S. led invasion of Afghanistan, however, opium production increased markedly. By 2005, Afghanistan had regained its position as the world’s #1 opium producer and was producing 90% of the world's opium, most of which is processed into heroin and sold in Europe and Russia. Afghan opium kills 100,000 people every year worldwide.

While U.S. and allied efforts to combat the drug trade have been stepped up, the effort is hampered by the fact that many suspected drug traffickers are now top officials in the Karzai government. In fact, recent estimates by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimate that 52% of the nation's GDP, amounting to $2.7 billion annually, is generated by the drug trade. The rise in production has been linked to the deteriorating security situation, as production is markedly lower in areas with stable security.

The poppy eradication policy propagated by the international community and in particular the United States, as part of their War on Drugs, has been a failure, exacerbated by the lack of alternative development projects to replace livelihoods lost as a result of poppy eradication. Rather than stemming poppy cultivation, poppy eradication has succeeded only in adding to the extreme poverty in rural areas and general discontent, especially in the south of Afghanistan.

The extermination of the poppy crops is not seen as a viable option, due to the fact that the sale of poppies constitute the livelihood of Afghanistan's rural farmers. Some 3.3 million Afghans are involved in producing opium. Opium is more profitable than wheat and destroying opium fields could possibly lead to discontent or unrest amongst the indigent population. Several alternatives to poppy eradication have been proposed, including controlled opium licensing for poppy for medicine projects.

The Game

"The Pashtun Mafia", led by Dave Thompson of team Capital Offense, is a collective of drug lords who have had enough of the Taliban's interference in their business. The Taliban's prohibition of opium production in 2000 cost them 90% of their profit. When the U.S. launched Enduring Freedom against the Taliban, drug production once again jumped up but only as long as the U.S. kept the Taliban preoccupied. The ultimate answer for the Pashtun cartel is to remove BOTH the U.S. and the Taliban freeing Afghanistan to reclaim its control of the world's opium and heroin production.

Contact Dave Thompson about joining the Pashtun at pashtun@genkillpaintball.com.

Let's Make A Deal

The Pashtun Mafia is in a unique position because through CIA operatives and corrupt government officials, it can negotiate with both sides and form temporary alliances to attack either and/or both sides of the conflict, whichever way it profits the Pashtun crime lords the most.