Bashir Noorzai

Last updated
Bashir Noorzai
NationalityAfghan
Other names
  • "Pablo Escobar of the Middle East"
OccupationDrug smuggler
Known forHelped the US negotiate with the Taliban

Bashir Noorzai is a convicted former Afghan drug lord. [1] He was an early supporter of the Taliban movement [2] [ citation needed ] and later worked as an undercover agent on behalf of the U.S. government. Despite being among America's most wanted drug traffickers, he agreed to come to New York City for a debriefing after being promised by his handlers that he would not be arrested. [3] He was arrested ten days after his arrival. [3] In the aftermath of Afghanistan take over by the Taliban, the group demanded that the US release him in exchange with an American engineer, Mark Frerichs, who was kidnapped by the group in January 2020. [4]

Contents

Biography

He fought the Soviet forces that occupied Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989.

He was left in charge of Kandahar after Mullah Omar went into hiding. He provided explosives, weapons, and militia fighters to the Taliban regime.

Noorzai was in Quetta when the September 11 attacks occurred, and soon afterwards returned to Afghanistan. In November 2001, he met with men he described as American military officials at Spinboldak, near the Afghan-Pakistani border. Small teams of U.S. Special Forces and intelligence officers were in Afghanistan at the time, seeking the support of tribal leaders. According to his lawyer, Noorzai was taken to Kandahar, where he was detained and questioned for six days by the Americans about Taliban officials and operations. He agreed to work with them and was freed, and in late January 2002 he handed over 15 truckloads of weapons, including about 400 anti-aircraft missiles, that had been hidden by the Taliban in his tribe's territory. [5]

On 1 June 2004, he was sanctioned under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. [6]

Arrest

In April 2005, U.S. authorities in New York City arrested Noorzai. [7] [8] [9] He was charged with trying to smuggle more than US$50 million worth of heroin into the United States. He is one of ten people and organizations on a U.S. list of most-wanted drug traffickers. RFE/RL looks at alleged ties between Afghanistan's former Taliban regime and the illegal narcotics trade in light of the Noorzai arrest. [10] Noorzai was represented at his 2008 trial by New York high-profile criminal defense lawyer Ivan Fisher. The case has raised substantial questions about U.S. foreign policy abroad. In 2008 Noorzai was convicted of smuggling $50 million worth of heroin into the United States. On April 30, 2009, he appeared before Judge Denny Chin, who sentenced Noorzai to life imprisonment.

The New York Times reported that the leadership vacuum in the drug trade, following Noorzai's capture, was filled by Juma Khan. [11] Khan was, in turn, captured in 2010.

The Afghanistan Times reported that Taliban officials said Noorzai had been released, in the United Arab Emirates, on July 16, 2019. [12] They reported that he would join Taliban peace negotiators, in Qatar. They incorrectly reported he had been released from the Guantanamo detention camp. However, Noorzai was not released from prison. [13]

According to a Taliban spokesman, he was released from prison in exchange for Mark Frerichs and arrived in Afghanistan on September 19, 2022. [14]

Related Research Articles

Juma Khan, an ethnic Baluch from Afghanistan's Nimroz Province, is a drug lord with links to the Taliban.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdul Salam Zaeef</span> 2000–2001 Afghan ambassador to Pakistan

Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef is an Afghan diplomat who was the Afghan ambassador to Pakistan before the US invasion of Afghanistan.

The Golden Crescent is the name given to one of Asia's two principal areas of illicit opium production. Located at the crossroads of Central, South, and West Asia, this space covers the mountainous peripheries of Afghanistan and Pakistan, extending into eastern Iran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Triangle (Southeast Asia)</span> River confluence that is an opium-producing region in Southeast Asia

Golden Triangle is the name given to the region at the confluence of the Ruak and Mekong Rivers in Myanmar, Thailand and Laos. The name "Golden Triangle" was coined by the CIA and is commonly used more broadly to refer to an area of approximately 950,000 km2 (367,000 sq mi) that overlaps the mountains of the three adjacent countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khairullah Khairkhwa</span> Information Minister of Afghanistan since 2021

Khairullah Said Wali Khairkhwa is the Afghan Minister of Information and Culture and a former Minister of the Interior. After the fall of the Taliban government in 2001, he was held at the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camp in Cuba for 12 years. He was released in late May 2014 in a prisoner exchange that involved Bowe Bergdahl and the Taliban five. Press reports have referred to him as "Mullah" and "Maulavi", two different honorifics for referring to senior Muslim clerics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Opium production in Afghanistan</span> Overview of illicit drug production in Afghanistan

Afghanistan has long had a history of opium poppy cultivation and harvest. As of 2021, Afghanistan's harvest produces more than 90% of illicit heroin globally, and more than 95% of the European supply. More land is used for opium in Afghanistan than is used for coca cultivation in Latin America. The country has been the world's leading illicit drug producer since 2001. In 2007, 93% of the non-pharmaceutical-grade opiates on the world market originated in Afghanistan. By 2019 Afghanistan still produced about 84% of the world market. This amounts to an export value of about US $4 billion, with a quarter being earned by opium farmers and the rest going to district officials, insurgents, warlords, and drug traffickers. In the seven years (1994–2000) prior to a Taliban opium ban, the Afghan farmers' share of gross income from opium was divided among 200,000 families.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eduardo Arellano Félix</span> Mexican drug trafficker

Eduardo Arellano Félix is a Mexican drug trafficker, brother of Benjamín, Ramón, Javier and sister, Enedina, all drug traffickers. The Arellano-Félix Organization, also known as the Tijuana Cartel, has been responsible for numerous murders and the smuggling of thousands of tons of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine for more than a decade. The DEA believes that the Arellano-Félix brothers were responsible for the numerous smuggling tunnels that were found in January 2006.

The French Connection was a scheme through which heroin was smuggled from Indochina through Turkey to France and then to the United States and Canada. The operation started in the 1930s, reached its peak in the 1960s, and was dismantled in the 1970s. It was responsible for providing the vast majority of the heroin used in the United States at the time. The operation was headed by Corsicans Antoine Guérini and Paul Carbone. It also involved Auguste Ricord, Paul Mondoloni and Salvatore Greco.

This article deals with activities of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency related to transnational crime, including the illicit drug trade.

Izzatullah Wasifi is a politician in Afghanistan. He served as the chief of General Independent Administration of Anti Corruption since January 2007. As anti-corruption chief Wasifi leads an 84-person staff. Part of their responsibility is addressing Afghanistan's problems with opium.

Abdul Qayyum "Zakir", also known by the nom de guerre Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul, is the acting Deputy Minister of Defense of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. He previously served as the acting Defense Minister, from 24 August 2021 to 7 September 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohammed Daud Daud</span> Afghan police chief (1969–2011)

Mohammed Daud Daud, also known as General Daud Daud, an ethnic Tajik, was the police chief in northern Afghanistan and the commander of the 303 Pamir Corps. He was an opponent of the Afghan Taliban.

Marcos Arturo Beltrán Leyva was a Mexican drug lord who, alongside his brothers, founded and led the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel. Prior to founding his own organization, Beltran-Leyva was a longtime high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel. His organization was responsible for cocaine, marijuana, heroin and methamphetamine production, transportation and wholesaling. It controlled numerous drug trafficking corridors into the United States and was responsible for money laundering, gun-running, and other acts of violence against men, women, and children in Mexico. The organization was connected with the assassinations of numerous Mexican law enforcement officials.

2003 in Afghanistan. A list of notable incidents in Afghanistan during 2003

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noorullah Noori</span> Afghan Borders and Tribal Affairs Minister since 2021

Mullah Noorullah Noori is the Minister of Borders and Tribal Affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan since 7 September 2021. He was also the Taliban's Governor of Balkh Province during their first administration (1996–2001). Noorullah Noori spent more than 12 years in extrajudicial detention in the United States's Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. Noori was released from the detention camp on May 31, 2014, in a prisoner exchange that involved Bowe Bergdahl and the Taliban Five, and flown to Qatar.

Haji Bagcho Sherzai, also known as Haji Bagh Chagul or Haji Bagcho, is a convicted drug trafficker from Afghanistan. He is accused by the United States of having ties with the Taliban. He was convicted on March 13, 2012, by a jury in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia of conspiracy, distribution of heroin for importation into the United States and narco-terrorism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act</span> US act, aiming to deny significant foreign narcotics traffickers access to the U.S. financial system

The Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, better known as the Kingpin Act, is landmark federal legislation in the United States intended to address international narcotics trafficking by imposing United States sanctions on foreign persons and entities involved in the drug trade.

Mark Randall Frerichs is an American civil engineer and former US Navy diver who disappeared in Afghanistan in January 2020 and was later confirmed to be captured by the Haqqani network, a group closely aligned with the Taliban. In September 2022, Frerichs was released by the Taliban-led government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in exchange for Bashir Noorzai.

On September 19, 2022, a prisoner exchange was conducted between the United States and Afghanistan, led by the Taliban-controlled government, in which Mark Frerichs, an American contractor was released in exchange for Bashir Noorzai, an Afghan tribal leader close to Mullah Omar, the founder of the Taliban.

References

  1. ↑ Ginger Thompson (2015-12-06). "Trafficking in Terror: How closely entwined are the drug trade and global terrorism?". The New Yorker magazine . Retrieved 2019-07-16. The agency also identified a high-value Afghan target, Haji Bashir Noorzai, an opium trafficker with close ties to the Taliban's leader, Mullah Omar.
  2. ↑ Zaeef, Abdul Salam (2010). My Life with the Taliban. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 64. ISBN   978-0-231-70148-8.
  3. 1 2 Joel Cohen; Bennett L. Gershman (2007-12-12). "The Stinger Missile Sting: Why the government should keep its promises to bad guys like Haji Noorzai". Slate magazine .
  4. ↑ O'Donnell, Lynne. "Taliban Pressing for Prisoner Swap With U.S." Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2022-01-07.
  5. ↑ James Risen (2007-02-02). "An Afghan's Path From U.S. Ally to Drug Suspect". The New York Times . Washington, D.C. p. A1. Retrieved 2019-07-16. Mr. Noorzai flew to New York in April 2005 and was taken to an Embassy Suites hotel, where he was questioned for 13 days before being arrested, his lawyer said.
  6. ↑ "Letter to Congressional Leaders on Sanctions Under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act" (PDF). Government Publishing Office. 1 June 2004. pp. 964–965.
  7. ↑ Alan Fueur (2008-06-09). "Who is Bashir Noorzai?". National Public Radio . Retrieved 2019-07-16. Alternately known as the "Pablo Escobar of the Middle East" and a U.S. allied freedom fighter, federal agents arrested Noorzai on heroin trafficking charges in 2005.
  8. ↑ Benjamin Weiser (2008-09-08). "An Afghan's Path From U.S. Ally to Drug Suspect". The New York Times . p. B1. Retrieved 2019-07-16. The defense has argued in court papers that the government relied on private contractors who bribed foreign officials to gain access to Mr. Noorzai, and then promised Mr. Noorzai that he would not be arrested if he agreed to meet with American officials and provide information about terrorism financing.
  9. ↑ Bill Powell (2007-02-08). "Warlord or Druglord?". Time magazine . Archived from the original on 2019-06-06. Retrieved 2019-07-16. For a week and a half in April 2005, one of the favorite warlords of fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar was sitting in a room at the Embassy Suites Hotel in lower Manhattan, not far from where the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center once stood.
  10. ↑ Ron Synovitz (2005-04-26). "U.S., UN Say Alleged Afghan Drug Lord Supported Taliban Regime". azaradio . Prague. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2019-07-16. U.S. President George W. Bush in June identified Noorzai as one of the world's most-wanted drug traffickers under the so-called Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. That law is designed to identify drug traffickers who pose threats to U.S. security, foreign policy, or the economy.
  11. ↑ James Risen (2010-12-12). "Propping Up a Drug Lord, Then Arresting Him". The New York Times . Washington, D.C. p. A1. Retrieved 2019-07-16. In a 2006 confidential report to the drug agency reviewed by The New York Times, an Afghan informer stated that Mr. Juma Khan was working with Ahmed Wali Karzai, the political boss of southern Afghanistan, to take control of the drug trafficking operations left behind by Mr. Noorzai. Some current and former American counternarcotics officials say they believe that Mr. Karzai provided security and protection for Mr. Juma Khan's operations.
  12. ↑ "Senior Taliban official freed from Guantanamo Bay". Afghanistan Times . Retrieved 2019-07-16. Hajji Bashir Noorzai, a senior official of Taliban was freed from US custody in the Guantanamo Bay, a source close to Taliban said Tuesday.
  13. ↑ Siddique, Abubakar; Zahirmal, Omid (30 June 2020). "Taliban Demand Release of Convicted Afghan Drug Lord". Rfe/Rl.
  14. ↑ "Senior Taliban figure arrives in Kabul after decades in U.S. detention - spokesperson". Reuters. 2022-09-19. Retrieved 2022-09-19.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.