Pakistan Burns 45 Tons of Drugs in Trafficking Region
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TURBET, Pakistan — Forty-five tons of heroin and hashish were set on fire Wednesday in a government-sponsored ceremony designed to portray Pakistan as a drug-fighting nation.
Black smoke billowed from the giant bonfire set to burn $400 million worth of contraband drugs in Baluchistan province, a sparsely populated region that has become a major transit route for drug trafficking.
Anxious to convince the world that Pakistan is doing its part in the war against drugs, the conservative Islamic government flew dozens of diplomats and journalists to Baluchistan to watch the two-hour burning ceremony. Many complained of dizziness after half an hour.
Last week, President Bush certified to Congress that Pakistan was trying to reduce the production of heroin and hashish, freeing $13 million to help destroy poppy fields in Pakistan’s rugged and mostly lawless tribal region.
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