Extremist organizations and organized crime live in symbiosis with each other in many parts of the world. Afghanistan is the largest producer of illicit drugs where narcotics finance the Taliban, the main insurgent group fighting against the Afghan government and its NATO allies. Taliban's violence weakens the state institutions and government control and encourages poppy cultivation. Both problems have grown more severe in post Taliban Afghanistan (2001 onwards). The transformation from holy warriors to drug smugglers is a familiar phenomenon in many countries. Several smaller insurgent groups in the Central Asian region are also believed to be involved in drug trafficking. The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), established after the collapse of the Soviet Union in Farghana Valley (and had close ties with the Taliban Movement in Afghanistan), was linked to the smuggling of opiates from Afghanistan to Central Asian Republics. In addition, Colombia's Marxist rebel group, FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia), and Colombia's second largest rebel group, the National Liberation Army, ELN (Ejercito Liberacion de Nacional), Turkey's Kurdish Marxist separatist group, PKK (Partya Kerkeren Kurdistan), ethnic secessionist armed group in Myanmar, the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) raise funds through drug trafficking. Afghanistan and Columbia are two major drug producing countries experiencing violent insurgencies that are heavily dependent on drug production and trafficking. In both countries, insurgencies have a strong ideological foundation. However, the FARC in Columbia got involved in a number of criminal activities such as heroin and cocaine trafficking and kidnappings. Similarly, Taliban's links to the drug trade are increasingly becoming clear. Comparisons are now being drawn between the Taliban Movement in Afghanistan and other extremist organizations with links to drug production and trafficking. Some Afghan and its international allies have expressed their concerns about the possible "FARCification" of the Taliban. This paper describes the political economy of drugs, focuses on the impact of illicit drugs and details links between insurgency, crimes and narcotics in different regions of the world especially Central Asia and South America. This chapter also analyses the role of criminal groups and their ties with ideological insurgency with a special focus on Taliban in Afghanistan and the FARC in Columbia.
