{"id":56595,"date":"2018-01-04T03:30:40","date_gmt":"2018-01-04T03:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/01\/04\/commandos-raid-red-unit-in-ongoing-campaign-against-taliban-financial-network\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T09:04:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T09:04:44","slug":"commandos-raid-red-unit-in-ongoing-campaign-against-taliban-financial-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/01\/04\/commandos-raid-red-unit-in-ongoing-campaign-against-taliban-financial-network\/","title":{"rendered":"Commandos raid \u2018Red Unit\u2019 in ongoing campaign against Taliban financial network"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Afghan commandos executed a nighttime raid against the Taliban\u2019s \u201cRed Unit\u201d in Helmand province on Monday, seizing more than a ton of hashish valued at $3.4 million in drug trafficking revenue and freeing five captives held for their families\u2019 connections to Afghan government forces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The raid against the elite Taliban fighters, who have been seen outfitted with American and Russian-made tech in propaganda videos, is another in a series of operations meant to disrupt the insurgency\u2019s increasingly narcotics-based methods of financing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe believe that the Taliban, in some ways, have evolved into a criminal or narco-insurgency,\u201d Gen. John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said during a November press briefing. \u201cThey are fighting to defend their revenue streams. They have increasingly lost whatever ideological anchor they once had.\u201d<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In December, Afghan National Security Forces seized another 34 tons of raw hashish and 300 kilograms of processed hashish in Logar province. That seizure was valued at $5.6 million. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"532\" height=\"299\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4037159.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-80371\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4037159.jpg.jpg 532w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4037159.jpg.jpg?resize=300,169 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 532px) 100vw, 532px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A combined Afghan Special Mission Wing and National Interdiction Unit operation targeting a Taliban drug facilitation location resulted in the seizure of 34 tons of raw hashish and 300 kg of processed hashish in Mohammed Agha district, Logar province, Afghanistan, Dec. 12, 2017. The confiscated hashish removed $5.6 million in potential revenue from the Taliban\u2019s criminal trafficking enterprise. (Afghan National Interdiction Unit courtesy photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That same month, a village elder from Paktika province was rescued after he refused to pay an illegal $1 million tax imposed by insurgents to fund narcotics, IEDs and other activities, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvidshub.net\/news\/259386\/elder-refused-fund-terrorists-freed-taliban-prison\" title=\"\" class=\"selected-link\">NATO Special Operations Component Command<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span class=\"js-paste-end-1515001493197\">The seizures are in line with the Trump administration\u2019s approach to Afghanistan, as late 2017 was flush with high-profile airstrikes on Taliban narcotics laboratories.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since beginning this campaign, \u201cwe have eliminated 25 narcotics processing labs from the Taliban inventory,\u201d Brig. Gen. Lance Bunch, future operations director for Resolute Support, told reporters at the Pentagon in December. \u201cThis equates to almost $80 million of drug money eliminated from the kingpins\u2019 pockets, while denying over $16 million of direct revenue to their Taliban partners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cKeep in mind that this is the first time we have persistently used our airpower in this interdiction role,\u201d he added. \u201cThis will be a very long winter for the Taliban, as we will continue to disrupt their revenue sources again and again and again.\u201d<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whether those seizures will indeed slow narcotics production and trafficking in Afghanistan is yet to be seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A <a href=\"https:\/\/fas.org\/sgp\/crs\/row\/RL30588.pdf\" title=\"\" class=\"selected-link\">report by the Congressional Research Service<\/a> found that the total area used for poppy cultivation in Afghanistan in 2017 increased by 63 percent from 2016 and was 46 percent higher than the previous record set during 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Opium production also increased by 87 percent, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2017\/11\/15\/opium-production-up-87-percent-in-afghanistan\/\" title=\"\" class=\"selected-link\" target=\"_blank\">according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Narcotics trafficking generates an estimated $70 million to $100 million per year for insurgent forces, accounting for \u201cperhaps about 25 [percent] of the insurgents\u2019 budgets,\u201d the congressional report reads. <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although the new effort makes larger use of air strikes on narcotics processing facilities, a report by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/FelbabBrown-Afghanistan-final.pdf\" title=\"\" class=\"\">Brookings Institution released in July 2016<\/a> questioned the effectiveness of interdiction efforts alone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFor two decades, opium has been Afghanistan\u2019s leading cash-generating economic activity. Valued at the border, profits from opiates represent about 10-15 percent of gross domestic product,\u201d according to the report. <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Narcotics leak into the legal economy as well, however, and when those spillovers are taken into account, \u201cdrugs easily constitute between a third and a half of the overall economy,\u201d according to the Brookings report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In order to prevent an economic crisis, the U.S. government has previously attempted to balance eradication efforts with development initiatives, like crop substitution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, most of those efforts were generally poorly implemented and not well-received by locals, according to the Brookings Institution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The report also concluded that \u201ca substantial reduction in the size and significance of the drug economy in Afghanistan will take several decades of well-crafted and sustained policies.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Afghan commandos executed a nighttime raid against the Taliban\u2019s \u201cRed Unit\u201d in Helmand province on Monday, seizing over a ton of hashish valued at $3.4 million and freeing five captives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":92103,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,8,12,25,70],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3385],"class_list":["post-56595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-army"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"NJD5OOJPMVCUREHCUID5BHWGRY","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2018\/01\/04\/commandos-raid-red-unit-in-ongoing-campaign-against-taliban-financial-network\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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Taliban\u2019s \u201cRed Unit\u201d in Helmand province on Monday, seizing over a ton of hashish valued at $3.4 million and freeing five captives.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/01\/04\/commandos-raid-red-unit-in-ongoing-campaign-against-taliban-financial-network\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Army Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-01-04T03:30:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T09:04:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kyle Rempfer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kyle Rempfer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" 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