destination, after being purified into heroin, is often Britain.
The smugglers have been fortified by an informal alliance with the Taliban. Britain hopes to break their stranglehold on Helmand with a deployment of more than 3,000 British troops that starts next month.
Paratroopers will mount a weeklong mission to Baramcha, said Lieutenant Colonel Henry Worsley.
The fledgling Afghan forces are also trying to apply
pressure. Last Monday the Afghan Special Narcotics Force, a British-trained elite paramilitary squad, raided Baramcha. Some small-scale smugglers, one western official said, were angry that Taliban militants did not keep their promise to defend them.
Western efforts are also focused on overhauling the Afghan justice system. A new counter-narcotics law was approved last December and a special drugs court has been set up.
But even when drug criminals are prosecuted, they frequently bribe their way to freedom.
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