Category Archives: Drugs
Afghanistan is being overrun by crystal meth as US begins withdrawal
Business Insider: The US is leaving behind a flourishing, violent trade in heroin and crystal meth in Afghanistan. The Om weed, which contains the key ingredient for making meth, grows wild in the mountains. One in 10 Afghans are said to be involved in the drug trade, about as many as are said to be
UN Survey Finds 37% Spike in Afghan Poppy Cultivation
Ayaz Gul VOA News May 3, 2021 ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN – The United Nations said Monday that opium cultivation in conflict-ridden Afghanistan increased by 37% in 2020 compared to the previous year, potentially producing an estimated 6,300 tons of opium. The findings are part of a new survey the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
SIGAR finds Taliban income mainly generated through illicit dealings
Ariana: The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said in a report that the primary sources of income for the Taliban are narcotics, illicit mining, and other illegal activities. The report also notes that the Taliban now controls all aspects of narcotics production, which likely indicates that their total revenues are even higher. Click
Afghan Police Accused Of Using Drug Addicts As Free Labor
Drug addicts in Farah City in Afghanistan’s Farah Province say they have been forced to work without pay for the local police. They claim they were made to work away from prying eyes on construction sites inside military compounds. The provincial offices of Afghanistan’s Labor and Social Affairs Ministry confirmed the allegations, but the local
Militant Groups Behind Illegal Drug Trade in Afghanistan: MoI
Tolo News: Militant groups such as Taliban, al Qaeda and Daesh “are the main backers of drug trafficking” in Afghanistan, the counter-narcotics department of the Ministry of Interior said on Saturday. The ministry said the provinces such as Helmand, Nimroz, Farah and Badakhshan where the Taliban has more influence, poppy cultivation and drug processing “have
The Taliban are megarich – here’s where they get the money they use to wage war in Afghanistan
Hanif Sufizada via The Conversation: In the fiscal year that ended in March 2020, the Taliban reportedly brought in US$1.6 billion, according to Mullah Yaqoob, son of the late Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, who revealed the Taliban’s income sources in a confidential report commissioned by NATO and later obtained by Radio Free Europe/Radio
Afghan Addicts Struggle To Get Clean In Kandahar
Jamila is 35 years old, a mother of six, and says her drug-dealing husband got her addicted to heroin. In the southern Afghan city of Kandahar where she lives, there are an estimated 300,000 drug addicts and only one treatment center that offers no places for women.
The Taliban Crime Syndicate Waits Out Trump
National Review: The good news is that Afghanistan has developed a new industry that gives it something valuable to export other than heroin. The bad news is that it is methamphetamine. Of course, the Taliban bosses are up to their turbans in the meth trade, imposing a “tax” on drug producers that puts millions and
Afghanistan, home to the heroin trade, moves into meth
BBC News: Heroin has long been a problem in Kabul but now many are turning to meth, a cheaper but equally dangerous drug. A new report released on Tuesday warns that Afghanistan is becoming a significant global producer of methamphetamine. The country’s opium poppy fields are already the source of the majority of the world’s