A former top U.S. counter-narcotics official alleges that Afghan President Hamid Karzai is obstructing the fight against Afghanistan's narcotics trade.

Thomas Schweich was one of State Department's top counter-narcotics officials until June. He accuses Karzai of protecting drug lords for political reasons.

Schweich writes in an article for today's New York Times that "narco-corruption went to the top of the Afghan government." He writes that the Taliban insurgency fighting Karzai's government profits from drugs. But he says Karzai is reluctant to move against big drug lords in his political power base in the country's south, where most opium and heroin are produced.

Afghan officials were not available for comment.

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