AP: During the years-long Taliban insurgency, the movement reportedly made millions of dollars taxing farmers and middlemen to move their drugs outside Afghanistan. Senior officials of the U.S.-backed government also reportedly made millions on the flourishing drug trade. Today, Afghanistan’s opium output is greater than all other opium-producing countries combined. Click here to read more
NYT: The multibillion-dollar trade has survived previous bans. Now, the Taliban are going after solar-powered water pumps to try to dry up poppy crops in the middle of a national economic crisis. Click here to read more (external link).
8am: Local sources say the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan has boosted opium markets and has encouraged poppy farmers to increase production and turn more lands into poppy cultivation fields. Click here to read more (external link).
VOA News April 15, 2022 A blanket ban on poppy cultivation by the Taliban emir is exacerbating Afghanistan’s already dire economic situation and could lead to armed uprisings against the Islamist regime, experts say. “This is a crazy policy at the worst possible time,” said William Byrd, senior Afghanistan expert at the U.S. Institute of
RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi April 14, 2022 Wali Jan, a farmer in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan, is expected to soon harvest poppies from his half-hectare farm. Standing in his blooming poppy field in Garni, an impoverished village on the outskirts of the provincial capital, Tarin Kowt, Jan is upset by the Taliban’s decision this
Tolo News: Niaz Mohammad, a farmer in Kandahar province, said that he cultivated poppy plants on 250 acres of land, where dozens of people are working on the farms. “Until our government stops us from cultivating it, we will not stop cultivating poppy. We don’t care about the westerners,” said Niaz Mohammad, a farmer. “It
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty April 3, 2022 Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government has banned the cultivation of poppies, which are used to produce opium and other drugs. The April 3 order by the de facto authorities said poppy crops would be burned and farmers would face punishments under Shari’a law. The decree was read out to a
Roshan Noorzai VOA News December 11, 2021 Farmers in Afghanistan say that they will continue to grow poppy amid uncertainty over the Taliban’s poppy eradication policy. “We have no choice but to cultivate opium poppy,” said Noor, 52, a farmer living in a remote village in the western Farah province. For safety reasons, he did
VOA: While members of Congress and others debate the tactics of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the strategies of 20 years of war, there is one issue that has constantly plagued that country: Drugs. Narcotics. Specifically, opium. Click here to read more (external link).
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty November 17, 2021 Afghanistan’s illegal opium production increased by 8 percent in 2021 compared to last year, the United Nations said, as the opiates from the war-torn country continue to dominate the international black market, supplying 8-in-10 users worldwide. Afghanistan harvested 6,800 tons of opium in 2021, the UN Office on