Exports from Afghanistan

Madam, - Competition - the get-up-and-go philosophy that made America great - is now working really well in Afghanistan only …

Madam, - Competition - the get-up-and-go philosophy that made America great - is now working really well in Afghanistan only three years after the US invasion. Exports are surging out of that country (The Irish Times, December 8th) and into Europe at the lowest and most competitive prices in ages.

Unfortunately for us, they consist mainly of the product of the poppy - heroin - production of which was previously banned by the Taliban but is obviously tolerated by the new administration so as to avoid upsetting the local warlords. Perhaps the Garda should now consider the much lower street prices and the wider availability when estimating the cost of its current seizures. - Yours, etc.,

ARTHUR DUNNE Blackrock, Co Dublin.