Afghanistan Opium Trade: The hub of drugs trade

But the Taliban announced a ban on the cultivation of Poppy which is the main ingredient for the production of Opium and heroin a product of Opium. The ban on poppy cultivation not only gives the Taliban a good light in the international community but can also help them to get recognition for their regime.

The Taliban may have temporarily stopped the flow of Afghan opium out to the world during the brief ban of 2000, but they continued to benefit from foreign markets since the limited supply drove the farmgate price to skyrocket to 21 times the pre-ban value. Meanwhile, unconfirmed rumours stated that the gang hoarded enormous amounts of opium to assure financing continuation.[1] There is no evidence to suggest that this ban will put a dent in the international supply of heroin, and stop the profits of non-state actors in the region. The restriction harmed wide swaths of Afghanistan's rural population's chances of economic survival. One DEA officer stated that the embargo was "bringing their country—or certain regions of their country—to economic ruin." [2] Due to a lack of viable alternative methods of sustenance and income, the bulk of landowners and sharecroppers became deeply indebted, with many sharecroppers ending up practically in bonded labour. Others, unable to repay their loans, were forced to borrow even more or flee to Pakistan.

Between 2019-2021 Czechia, France, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Australia, Africa, and Iran (Islamic Republic) have reported seizures of methamphetamine originating from Afghanistan. India reportedly receives drugs from Afghanistan, via Pakistan.

India has been seeing a severe influx of drugs which are originating from Afghanistan, The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) recovered Rs 1,500 crore in Afghan narcotics from Kandla port a few weeks ago. According to reports, security personnel have captured over 265 kilogrammes of heroin, with the precise quantity still being determined. The worldwide market price is reported to be around Rs 1,500 crore.

In any region in the world, illicit drugs are known to be used to fund organized crime and are mostly managed by the groups that are involved in organized criminal activities. Taliban also used the trading of drugs to fund their activities. Mostly these situations also include corrupt law enforcement officials and government administrative officials.

Approximately 224,000 hectares of land is under opium cultivation in Afghanistan in 2020, according to the UNODC. The farm gate value of opium production in Afghanistan in 2020 is estimated to be USD 350 million. [3] According to a United Nations estimate from 2021, opiate revenue in Afghanistan was $1.8 to $2.7 billion, accounting for more than 7% of the country's GDP. 2020 is when the Taliban is also growing powerful for their eventual take over the capital Kabul in 2021 August. Taliban ran a taxation system to fund their insurgency, according to

Currently, opiate prices have risen owing to an unclear next season due to projected cultivation prohibitions. Raw opium prices have nearly quadrupled from $70 to $200.[4] The southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar are the Taliban movement's and poppy production's core. However, cultivation has progressively risen in the north, where the Taliban's opponents still have sway. The crop growth cycle begins in the south around March and April, although it begins later in the north. By the time the government begins enforcing the restriction, it may only harm the northern harvest. Any future headlines declaring action against poppy growers should be interpreted in this light - as a result of the Taliban's assertion of control in the north.

The Taliban did not initially use the drug economy for financial gain in the 1990s, nor did it require drug money to increase its military capabilities and intensify the battle. When the movement first appeared in Kandahar in 1994 and began spreading in southern Afghanistan, its financial resources and operational capabilities, such as weapons, came from other sources—namely, external sponsors such as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, as well as the successful exploitation of the illicit traffic with legal goods with undeclared legal goods under the Afghan Transit Trade Agreement (ATTA). Furthermore, the Taliban's spread throughout the country occurred mostly prior to their exploitation of the illicit drugs industry. The Taliban's embrace of the drug trade was motivated by the need to solidify political control after its military expansion.[5]

The methamphetamine industry is also rising in Afghanistan. According to independent specialists, former government officials, and drug merchants, hundreds of meth laboratories have arisen in Afghanistan during the last six years. More are being constructed each month as the country's economic turmoil compels Afghans to seek alternative sources of revenue. The great bulk of meth manufactured is for export, but a growing number of Afghans are using it as a recreational narcotic.[6] The same infrastructure and transportation routes are being used to move meth as well. Meth seizures in this area indicate the profitable shift: According to UN figures, they surged by more than 600 per cent between 2018 and 2019. The production of Meth increased as huge amounts of ephedra were discovered, growing wild in the mountains, which is the main ingredient in cooking Meth. Governments, humanitarian groups, and experts were trying to discover methods to save Afghans from famine without directly dealing with the regime. The policy community was concluding that the US should remove sanctions and unfreeze the Afghan central bank's foreign reserves, even if it meant benefiting a "terrorist" administration in Kabul. Although the Taliban lacked diplomatic recognition, it appeared to be moving closer to significant international involvement.

The ban of poppy corp in the country and the ban on manufacturing and trade of narcotics in the country can be just a smokescreen to avoid the scrutiny from the international community as the regime is trying to gain international recognition from the world. It is a tactical decision for an image makeover for the international community to gain legitimacy for their regime. Taliban are not new to making false promises, they made statements about providing women’s rights and decreasing violent behaviour as well, which were only on the word and didn’t show any evidence when it came to practice. This ban on poppy cultivation can be another one of those unreliable promises. It's not that banning Opium is not a good decision, but the Taliban didn’t decide for social welfare, the decision was made strategically to get more profits from the existing stock and increase the prices in the market rapidly. This decision can also be taken to prevent any other non-state actors in the country from making profits and indulging in organized crime with those profits.

Notes

[1] Teagan Westendorf, “Taliban opium ban could lead to increase in organised crime and terrorism”

[2] Barbara Crossette, “The Taliban’s Ban on Growing Opium Poppies is Called a Success.” New York Times, 18 May 2001.

[3] https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2021/May/afghanistan_-37-per-cent-increase-in-opium-poppy-cultivation-in-2020--while-researchers-explore-novel-ways-to-collect-data-due-to-covid-19.html

[4] https://iffras.org/will-the-taliban-curb-drug-trade-the-economic-backbone-of-afghanistan/

[5] https://www.brookings.edu/articles/pipe-dreams-the-taliban-and-drugs-from-the-1990s-into-its-new-regime/

[6] https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2022/afghanistan-meth-opium-drug-industry/

Pic Courtsey-Sohaib Ghyasi at unsplash.com

(The views are of the author and do not represent views of CESCUBE.)