Ä [31] TALK.POLITICS.DRUGS (1:375/48) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ TALK.POLITICS.DRUGS Ä
 Msg  : #5371 [201]                                                             
 From : catalyst-remailer                   1:2613/335      Mon 25 Apr 94 23:36 
 To   : All                                                                     
 Subj : Oh just great, now a HOLY war against drugs. Pakistan.                  
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From: catalyst-remailer@netcom.com

         ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (Reuter) - Pakistan's National Assembly
passed legislation Monday imposing the death penalty on drug
traffickers and raising the minimum punishment to 25 years
imprisonment.
         The bill must be passed by the Senate, where Prime Minister
Benazir Bhutto does not have a majority, before it becomes law.
Bhutto has said her government is determined to wage holy war
against drugs despite threats from drug barons.
         The amendment to the Dangerous Drugs Bill was offered ``to
check the menace of trafficking of narcotics drugs which has
assumed an alarming situation in recent years,'' Interior
Minister Naseerullah Babar told the lower house.
         Pakistan is the world's biggest supplier of heroin after
Southeast Asia's notorious Golden Triangle, with most of the
opium grown in Afghanistan and processed in Pakistan.
         Pakistan produced about 180 tons of opium in 1992/93, while
2,000 tons were grown in Afghanistan and processed into heroin
in laboratories in the tribal areas along the border that are
beyond the reach of Pakistani law.
         Under the new bill, the former maximum penalty of 25 years
in jail has been raised to death while the minimum punishment is
raised to 25 years imprisonment from two years.
         The bill also amends the current act to provide for
forfeiture of assets of people convicted of drugs offences and
sentenced to two years or more, Babar told the house.
         A United Nations report in February said drug traffickers in
Pakistan earned $2.5 billion a year from domestic sales and
exports, accounting for five percent of Gross Domestic Product.

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