J$$$$

Last night I had the oppurtunity to talk with one of the interpreters during a patrol which had us occupying a compound as the night took over the day. I wanted to absolve my curiosity about the whole opium and poppy crops, the processing of the drug, as well as the way people used it. So I flat out asked him about it. Turns out we would discuss more than just opium.
His name is J$$$$ and he comes from a northeastern village that borders Tajikistan. I cannot remember the name of his home town however I did ask him if the Taliban operate in his neck of the woods. He replied no, his village is relatively peaceful, however the 2 provinces out of 4 which surround his are currently occupied by the Taliban. I asked him if he has seen a change in the people around this area and he explained that he has seen a significant change due the the fact their are security forces here. I should explain that I am now currently located with another platoon to once again augment their requirement for engineer support. This should be a very temporary situation, at the most 10-14 days. Ergo, I was not familiar with this particular interpreter. I began asking him about opium and how it is used and processed. My curiosity is sparked of course by the field upon field of poppies that grow in this area. He explained that the opium is obtained by scraping the bulb of the flower prior to it blooming. The plant seeps a brownish sticky substance which is in fact opium. The farmers, every evening are tending to their fields and scraping off the opium and collecting it in a plastic sheet. Apparently the shelf life of opium is many years as long as it remains in the plastic. The farmers then move their opium into Kandahar and sell it off to the many heroin factories inside the city. I asked him how he knew so much about this crop and he explained that his brother was into opium use and had learned everything from him. He told me his brother used to be athletic and into weight lifting, pressing 150kg and now could not lift 20 lbs. The drug "takes the life out of the body" is what he told me, turning it to a mushy state. The drug can only be harvested anywhere from 10-14 days each year and then the flowers bloom and do not continue to yield their drug. A very short time for the farmers to get the most out of their crop.
I was wondering how the drug is used. He explained that you can use it a multiple of ways. One, you can eat the poppy seeds, but once you eat one you become hooked. People who get hooked on the seed must continue to eat the seeds all day long or else they become extremely itchy and irritable. Much like a junkie I reckon jonesin for a fix. The next way to consume is to use a spike and drive it into the bulb. You then put that spike into a fire or briquettes and scorch the opium onto it, turning it into a black sticky substance. You then scrape the opium off the nail and into a pipe. These were the two ways he explained to me... I then questioned him about the factories. He told me they are hastily put together and easily torn down. Afghanistan produces 85% of the worlds heroin and judging by the amount of poppy fields I can see why. 7 kg of opium is used to create 1 kg ofheroin. Because of this ratio is why the drug is so expensive he explained. Karzais brother was arrested ( no time frame was given, I think in the 90's) inside one of these heroin factories. The bust was swept under the rug and in the end the Minister of the Interior at the time was forced to resign. He now teaches in the United States. Keep in mind this is coming from an interpreter and may not be factual in any way. So anyway, these factories are busted on occasion and from the words of the terp the arresting authorities can be bought for a price. The same goes for an execution. Things seem to get swept under the rug for a little Afghan currency. He explained the mafia in Afghanistan is verfy powerful and organized crime is at every level. Government, police, politicians. Big surprise there.
At some point his childhood got raised in the conversation and how his brother was killed when he was 7. His eldest brother had a disagreement with their neighbours but I cannot remember why. I did not ask until later how he was killed but I did ask if there was any retribution. He explained that his mother would not allow it. They wanted the killers blood but the mother talked them all down. In the end, his late brothers friend took out the vengeance on the neighbour. This was when everyone had Ak-47s in this country. His brother was shot with this gun 30 times and the revenge was exacted in the same manner. Pretty heavy shit.
Lastly his pay as an interpreter was brought up. The man makes 600 american dollars out of 1800 dollars that his contractor gets a month. The special forces pay a lot higher and this is where he hopes to go. In the end he would like to obtain Canadian citizenship for the work he has done here. He said its about 60/40 that he will get it. I'm not sure as to how that all works but I wished him the best in his pursuit of our beautiful country.