They should get a medal

[TobyC]

View attachment 98602

Or did they play a part in this game? There is a lot of dirt under the rug.

 

[JamieM]

Or did they play a part in this game? There is a lot of dirt under the rug.

Profits and poppy: Afghanistan's illegal drug trade a boon for Taliban

The United States spent more than $8 billion over 15 years on efforts to deprive the Taliban of their profits from Afghanistan's opium and heroin trade, from poppy eradication to airstrikes and raids on suspected labs.

www.reuters.com

The estimated all-time high for opium production was set in 2017 at 9,900 tons worth some $1.4 billion in sales by farmers or roughly 7% of Afghanistan's GDP, the UNODC reported.

When the value of drugs for export and local consumption is taken into account, along with imported precursor chemicals, the UNODC estimated the country’s overall illicit opiate economy that year at as much as $6.6 billion.


The Taliban and public officials have long been involved in the narcotics trade, experts said, although some dispute the extent of the insurgents' role and profits.

The United Nations and Washington contend the Taliban are involved in all facets, from poppy planting, opium extraction, and trafficking to exacting "taxes" from cultivators and drug labs to charging smugglers fees for shipments bound for Africa, Europe, Canada, Russia, the Middle East, and other parts of Asia.

Some of those shipments are hurled across the heavily patrolled border to traffickers in Iran with rudimentary catapults, reported David Mansfield, a leading researcher into Afghanistan's illicit drug trade.

U.N. officials reported that the Taliban likely earned more than $400 million between 2018 and 2019 from the drug trade. A May 2021 U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan (SIGAR) report quoted a U.S. official as estimating they derive up to 60% of their annual revenue from illicit narcotics.

 

[Estariol]

Is there any evidence that they were hard on the opium farmers, and that it had any effect? It seems more likely that once the allies took control of Afghanistan they got some reliable figures on production that were missing before, and that production has remained fairly consistent.

According to several different portals a few years ago, there was a severe effect, however, the data about percentages was not posted and that's why i didn't say anything about it. Poppy is sowed yearly, so if the fields were reclaimed, they could've regain the former production percentage easily.

 

[Lord Fatboy]

According to several different portals a few years ago, there was a severe effect, however, the data about percentages was not posted and that's why i didn't say anything about it. Poppy is sowed yearly, so if the fields were reclaimed, they could've regain the former production percentage easily.

Yes... and a tiny amount of opium makes huge amounts of heroin so quite small fields can be very significant.

 

[Missoni]

 

[RussellR5555]

I won't go into who that really was, or who created him, or the global plan, I'll just say you don't have a clue.

You on the other hand, have never had one.

We have a very good president. His name is Michael D Higgins.

 

[Lord Fatboy]

Colour me skeptical.
It's been a fairly linear growth since the Soviets pulled out (80s brown heroin boom notwithstanding) probably a fairly steady growth since they started growing opium in the 1940s, and then it suddenly drops right before the allied invasion. Hmm.
The Taliban took power in 1996. What the hell were they doing for the previous five years... sharpening their lawn mowers? In that time (96-00) the border with Pakistan became incredibly porous (the Pakistani army fought alongside the Taliban against the Northern Alliance) and that would be the time that production went through the roof I should think. Who knows.
Anyway, I love a graph.