DEA sends more agents to Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan, July 29 (UPI) -- The United States' top anti-drug agency will substantially boost its presence in Afghanistan to check opium trafficking, the Taliban's main revenue source.

"One year ago, we had 13 personnel in Afghanistan working counternarcotics," Jay Fitzpatrick, the Drug Enforcement Administration's assistant regional director based in Kabul, told National Public Radio. "We're in the process of increasing the number of personnel to 81. We hope to be at that ceiling by December."

The U.S. network reported the DEA also plans track the top 10 to 20 narcotics traffickers in Afghanistan with the help of Afghan authorities.

NPR quoted the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime that the growing opium trade in Afghanistan brings in hundreds of millions of dollars for the Taliban, which the insurgents then use to buy weapons. The money is also used to pay local Afghans, who may not agree with the Taliban, but need the money.