Global Initiative: Having long hosted Western Asia’s largest methamphetamine market, Iran for decades has employed an aggressive multi-million-dollar campaign to curb the trade. The discovery, however, of the ephedra plant in neighbouring Afghanistan – a source of ephedrine, a key ingredient for the drug – threatens to undermine Tehran’s efforts. The abundance of cheap meth
Khaama: The US Special Envoy for Afghanistan, Thomas West, tweeted that the recent reports on a significant drop in poppy production in the country are “credible and important.” But since the Taliban seized power, Afghanistan’s economy has collapsed, and the population is now facing a severe humanitarian catastrophe. Experts claim that as a result, one
Khaama: Several related economic activities are involved in Afghanistan drug trafficking. Cartels maintain a symbiotic relationship with the Taliban by giving farmers advances to plant ephedra and opium while providing the financial assistance necessary to keep the jihadist proto-state alive. These cartels use Pakistani sources to facilitate the acquisition of chemicals required to produce drugs.
By RFE/RL’s Tajik Service May 9, 2023 Tajikistan has asked member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to establish an independent agency to combat drug trafficking from Afghanistan. Foreign Affairs Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin says he also told a high-level meeting of officials from the SCO last week in India that it was important to establish
Farmers in southern Afghanistan say they are dismayed at the destruction of their poppy farms by the Taliban government since it assumed control of Afghanistan in 2021. Once a lucrative crop, farmers made a fortune under the former government backed by the West, but the Taliban enforced a strict ban in 2023 to avoid
8am: The inhabitants of Nimroz asserted that, under the vigilant observation of the Taliban, thousands of kilograms of drugs are smuggled out of the province daily to neighboring countries, particularly Iran. They alleged that Toyota vehicles and catapults are utilized to transport tens of kilograms of opium across the Iranian border. The Taliban do not
8am: The number of drug users inside Afghanistan also increased, leading to addiction among many young people and families. In general, the Afghan government and its international allies failed to control drugs. Additionally, despite the propaganda of banning opium cultivation, the Taliban are taking advantage of the drug trade. Therefore, it appears that Afghanistan will
8am: According to sources, a group of 25 individuals was discharged from the addiction treatment center in Ghazni province after completing a 45-day treatment period. However, due to the lack of facilities, they were only given sleeping pills during their treatment. It should be noted that in the past, several addicts have been treated at
Ariana: The United Nations Drug Control Programme and the Centre for International Crime Prevention, (UNODC) say it will support the rehabilitation program of drug addicts in Afghanistan, by covering 24 addicts’ treatment centers, state-run Bakhtar agency reported. The UNODC will provide food, heating equipment, health materials, and medicine for these centers. Currently, 3.5 million, which
8am: According to reliable sources in Nimruz province, the Taliban has given smugglers of opium in this province 10 months to sell and export their opium from Afghanistan without paying any sales tax or customs duty. On Friday sources reported that, in addition to the 10-month deadline, the Taliban has also exempted drug smugglers in