'Pakistan to become poppy free country next year'

Federal Minister for Narcotics Control Ghaus Bux Maher on Thursday said that poppy cultivation had been almost eliminated and would become a poppy free next year.
Talking to the media he said that this year the authorities had destroyed poppy grown on some 3,000 acres in different areas in North West Frontier Province and Balochistan. He recalled that in 2000 the country had drastically curbed poppy cultivation but later on it re-emerged in certain areas.
The minister said the government had also taken concrete steps to persuade poppy growers to switch over to alternative crops. "These efforts have produced positive results."
He said 247 heroin labs had been destroyed since last year and there was no such clandestine unit functioning now.
Bux, who has just returned from an international anti-narcotics conference in the Central Asian republic of Tajikistan, said he had apprised the participants of Pakistan's headway in curbing drug production and smuggling.
He told the conference that the Pakistan government had installed modern special equipment on borders for more effective crackdown on drug proliferation.
The minister said in Afghanistan poppy was being grown on 1,30,500 hectares, posing a major threat to the region.
At the conference the minister said he had called for forceful measures by the Afghan government to wipe out poppy farming.
Bux said the Pakistan government had approved new recruitment to Anti-Narcotics Force to further improve its capacity.
He said the ANF had achieved good results, seizing 6.43 metric tons of opium, 24.34 metric tons of heroin and 93.53 metric tons of hashish last year.
The conviction rate in prosecuting people arrested in connection with drug trafficking was 87.42 percent, he said. Answering a question the minister said at present there were around 4 million drug addicts in the country, including 0.5 million heroin consumers.
He said 78 rehabilitation and treatment centres for drug addicts were functioning in the country.
Bux said he had apprised the Tajikistan conference of Pakistan's requirements such as helicopters, night vision equipment and scanners to strengthen the anti-narcotics drive.