The Diplomat: On December 11, 2017, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov criticized NATO’s efforts to combat drug trafficking in Afghanistan. In a press conference in New Delhi, Lavrov claimed that Afghanistan’s rampant narcotics trade fuels terrorism in Central and South Asia. Lavrov also urged the West to end the “double standards” that undercut NATO’s drug enforcement
VOA News / December 12, 2017 Carla Babb PENTAGON — American military officials say the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan has destroyed 25 illegal drug-processing laboratories in Helmand province, eliminating $80 million in narcotics money during the first three weeks of an air campaign aimed at countering Taliban revenue. Speaking via teleconference from Kabul, U.S. Air Force
VOA News December 2, 2017 ISLAMABAD — The top U.S. general in Afghanistan said Saturday recently launched joint strikes against Taliban sources of revenue have destroyed more than $50 million worth of narcotics in southern Helmand province. Afghanistan produces about 85 percent of the world’s opium. Income generated from drugs is providing 60 percent of the
Ayaz Gul VOA News November 20, 2017 ISLAMABAD — The United States has launched its first counter-narcotics military offensive in partnership with local allies in Afghanistan to try to deprive the resurgent Taliban of its largest source of funding. The move follows years of criticism that international forces are not doing enough to curb the opium
Ayaz Gul VOA News November 15, 2017 ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan has produced a record 9,000 metric tons of opium this year, up 87 percent compared with 2016 levels. The sharp increase is recorded in a new joint survey released Wednesday by the Afghan Ministry of Counter Narcotics and U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The
Tolo News: A clinic, established two and half years ago in southern Helmand province, uses water therapy and counseling to treat drug addicts rather than medication. Clinic staff said water therapy was more effective than prescribing medicine. The clinic is now however run by a recovering addict who was once a patient at the clinic. Click
AFP: In 2016 Afghanistan, which produces 80 percent of the world’s opium, made around 4,800 tonnes of the drug bringing in revenues of three billion dollars, according to the United Nations. The Taliban — which banned poppy cultivation when it ruled Afghanistan — now appears to wield significant control over the war-torn country’s heroin production line,
The Diplomat: Opium has an analgesic effect and is the base for morphine, heroin, and other opioids that are used for medical purposes, but also for illegal drug consumption. Afghanistan accounts for some 70 percent of the global opium production, according to the World Drug Report 2016 of the United Nations Office on Drugs and
Lisa Schlein VOA News June 22, 2017 GENEVA — The United Nations reports about 250 million people, or 5 percent of the global adult population, used drugs in 2015, and of those, about 29.5 million suffered from drug-use disorders, including addiction. The World Drug Report 2017 launched Thursday by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said
VOA News May 16, 2017 WASHINGTON — The world’s number one opium-producing country, Afghanistan, is braced for an exploding poppy harvest this year, as farmers are cultivating the illicit crop in areas where it has never grown before. “Unfortunately, the narcotics production is on the rise this year,” Javed Qaem, Afghan deputy counternarcotics minister, told international