Drug production in afghanistan. Opium production in Afghanistan 2022-10-03

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Afghanistan is a country located in South Asia, bordered by Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. It is known for its rich history and culture, but it has also gained a reputation as a major producer of illicit drugs, particularly opium and its derivatives, such as heroin.

The production of illicit drugs in Afghanistan has a long and complex history, but it has significantly increased in recent decades. In the 1980s, during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the CIA and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) supported the mujahideen, a group of Afghan rebels fighting against the Soviet-backed government, by providing them with weapons and funding. As part of this support, the CIA and ISI also helped the mujahideen cultivate opium as a source of funding for their resistance.

After the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, the mujahideen factions turned against each other and began fighting for control of the country. The Taliban, a militant group that emerged in the 1990s, eventually took control of most of Afghanistan in the late 1990s and implemented strict Islamic laws. However, the Taliban also relied on the production of opium as a source of funding for their regime and as a means of controlling the population.

After the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the Taliban was toppled from power, but the production of illicit drugs in Afghanistan continued to thrive. In fact, Afghanistan's opium production increased significantly in the years following the U.S. invasion, reaching record levels in 2007. This increase has been attributed to a number of factors, including the lack of security and stability in the country, the lack of alternative livelihoods for farmers, and the lack of effective government efforts to address the problem.

The production of illicit drugs in Afghanistan not only has negative consequences for the country itself, but it also has a global impact. The drugs produced in Afghanistan are often smuggled into neighboring countries, such as Pakistan and Iran, and then distributed to other parts of the world, including Europe and the United States. The illicit drug trade has contributed to corruption, violence, and instability in Afghanistan and the surrounding region, and it has also contributed to the global drug addiction epidemic.

Efforts have been made to address the problem of illicit drug production in Afghanistan, including alternative development programs that aim to provide farmers with alternative sources of income and the implementation of counter-narcotics laws. However, these efforts have had limited success due to the complex and multifaceted nature of the problem.

In conclusion, the production of illicit drugs in Afghanistan, particularly opium and its derivatives, has a long and complex history and has had significant negative consequences for the country and the world. Efforts to address the problem have had limited success due to the multifaceted nature of the issue.

Drugs, security, and counternarcotics policies in Afghanistan

drug production in afghanistan

But coupling such hard choices with indiscriminate seizure of opium stocks at the level of the household frequently poor households further alienated the population from the government. Even heftier profits are generated outside of Afghanistan by international drug traffickers and dealers. Policy Prospects, Implications and Options To be synchronized with violence reduction and state-building, counternarcotics policies must be judicious, well-sequenced, and well-prioritized. National Directorate of Security forces stand guard along with a detained suspect center after bags containing opium and hashish were seized in an operation. In 2019, he was approached by Iranian businessmen about building a meth lab on the edge of his fields.

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Afghanistan’s Drug Production … a Global Crisis

drug production in afghanistan

The high number of opium-addicted Afghan women and children is a dramatic consequence of the war in that country. Retrieved November 12, 2016. However, currently 100% of Afghan opium is diverted to the illegal opium trade and funds in some cases terrorist activities. In the following section, I review counternarcotics efforts since 2002, including eradication, interdiction, alternative livelihoods, and demand reduction efforts. It's not known how many poppies were planted this season, how much was harvested and how many fields the Taliban have eradicated so far.


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Drug trade booms in Afghanistan under the Taliban: Report

drug production in afghanistan

The brief was launched at a policy meeting of the Paris Pact Initiative, which brings together 58 countries and 23 organizations to combat illicit trafficking in Afghan opiates. Among such priority targets are international terrorist groups such as al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and Lashkar-e-Taiba. Strategic Studies Institute, U. The CIA recruited the Laotian Hmong tribe to fight communist forces in the region — as a means to empower them, the CIA encouraged the Hmong to grow opium instead of rice, threatening to withdraw the food and armament aid that they were receiving if not compliant. Production spiraled over the past 20 years despite billions of dollars spent by the U.

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drug production in afghanistan

As per UN drug report of 2011, Iran accounts for highest rate of opium and heroin seizure rates in the world, intercepting 89% of all seized opium in the world. Apart from the arms industry, however, another cause for this starting all over again might actually be the infamous Afghan opium trade — a subject that was brushed away like an unimportant talking point by previous administrations and media outlets. Interdicting their drug assets and bringing some of them to justice would reduce the perception of their impunity, perhaps even send a potent deterrent message, and enhance public support for the Afghan government. Thus in 2018, the Afghan government eradicated only 406 hectares of poppy, i. According to the U.


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Opium production in Afghanistan

drug production in afghanistan

Now the new governor of the top poppy growing area has a new idea: have the Afghan government control the poppy harvest by licensing farmers and processing the poppies for medical morphine to be used in hospitals. On the contrary, the drug trade in Afghanistan did not only remain untouched but boomed to a great extent. Retrieved April 3, 2022. According to Antonio Costa, "Opium poppy cultivation, processing, and transport have become Afghanistan's top employers, its main source of capital, and the principal base of its economy. Opium dealers, who used to pay off corrupt government officials and sell bags of the thick black paste in secret, have now set up stalls in markets. The New York Times.

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The Curse of Drug Production in Afghanistan

drug production in afghanistan

Instead, official and unofficial powerbrokers have issued exceptions from law enforcement to their networks of clients, who have thus been able to reap high economic benefits and even get away with major crimes. The high level of drug addiction in Afghanistan is one of the most tragic legacies of a disastrous and unnecessary war. Another wave of eradication took place in 2005, when reduction in poppy cultivation was achieved. Instability makes opium cultivation possible; opium buys protection and pays for weapons and foot soldiers, and these in turn create an environment in which drug lords, insurgents and terrorists can operate with impunity. The one industry that brought in wealth was the drug industry.

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Afghanistan opium: Taliban destroys poppy farms, enforcing a ban on the crop : NPR

drug production in afghanistan

Thus, in areas that were subject to intense interdiction raids, the effects of supposedly selective and hearts-and-minds-oriented interdiction in fact resembled those of eradication. I fear there may be a more sinister explanation for why the bottom has not fallen out of the opium market: major traffickers are withholding significant amounts. The Taliban, however, are still sensitive about the trade. And it was the poorest farmers, most vulnerable to Taliban mobilization, who bore the brunt of eradication. If there was less demand for heroin, the bottom really would fall out of the opium market. One was to signal to Afghan power brokers that the best way to conduct the drug business in Afghanistan is to be closely aligned with the Afghan government and, better yet, to provide counterinsurgency services — such as intelligence, militias, and real estate property — to U. And as we hear in 2014 from the UN and the admirable Mr Sopko it has since surged to staggering proportions.

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Afghanistan's Drug Trade Flourishes Under the Ruling Regime

drug production in afghanistan

Going after Taliban-linked traffickers became the sole counternarcotics mandate of ISAF forces, though other international and Afghan counternarcotics units, with U. The country was recovering from a 20-30 percent shrinking of its economy that left them with a high unemployment rate and massive poverty. In particular, poppy cultivation and capsule lancing for the collection of opium resin are highly-labor intensive, vastly surpassing employment opportunities in all other sectors of the economy except the security sector. Retrieved July 6, 2016. The field's owner stood nearby, watching.

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Taliban's advance in Afghanistan could fuel surge in drug trade

drug production in afghanistan

A Taliban government may court Russian support in exchange for poppy bans and perhaps even eradication. The high drug revenue prolongs insecurity and fuels corruption in the country, already besieged by multiple problems. Retrieved March 20, 2020. At other times, they have spurred new tribal rivalries and community tensions. All news coming out of Afghanistan is depressing, and it seems the country is collapsing more deeply into chaos day by day. Jamal Abdulnai Nasiri, 60, has worked in drug rehabilitation for more than two decades. Enforcement of this policy is at the discretion of this websites administrators.

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