Where is opium most popular

Opium in Afghanistan is a part of the pernicious troika of corruption, insurgency and narcotics running down that nation. All three of the diseases feed off each other, and without an element of the others, none could exist. The challenge is to destroy, wean, or subvert the opium product coming out of Afghanistan without losing the support of Afghans dependent on the billions of dollars it brings into the country.

In those three provinces alone, production has increased by over 36, hectares an area approximately as large as the Gaza Strip, or Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn together , an increase greater than the entire production of Eastern Afghanistan. Coupled with an extremely difficult and convoluted security situation, opium cultivation and production is devastating the South and hobbling development there for years to come. While cultivation rose by a much greater percentage and amount between and 56, hectares , the smaller increase this year should not be taken as a good omen; the South can only produce so much more opium.

In Helmand this year every single person expected their village to cultivate opium, and the British forces operating there do so in an extremely hostile environment. The refinement and processing of opium into morphine and heroin continues to be conducted in-country. The UN estimates two-thirds of all opiates leaving the country have been refined into either morphine base or crude forms of heroin.

Additionally, criminal networks and insurgents continue to merge in southern Afghanistan, sharing profits, tactics and anti-government ideology. Suicide attacks against eradication personnel have surged in and have continured in early Farmers continue to cultivate the crop where security remains elusive, corruption is rampant, and high yields are likely.

Farmers in the north have abandoned the crop due to increased pressure, better governance, and enhanced security which allows for the implementation of alternative livelihood programs. In late October , authorities in Jakarta, Indonesia apprehended Afghan drug kingpin Haji Juma Khan, an ethnic Balouch who ruled the Baramcha heroin distribution center since Khan represents the most senior Afghan drug trafficker ever arrested.

Khan has been extradited to the United States and is charged with several counts of narco-terrorism. He currently awaits trial in New York and faces a sentence of 20 years to life. Haji Juma Khan's Indictment. The UN suggests there is no province that will likely see an increase in poppy cultivation in Additionally, the 18 poppy-free provinces from are expected to remain so this year.

Baghlan and Herat will likely be the next two provinces to be listed as poppy-free as cultivation is expected to plummet and eradication measures expanded. Overall Poppy Cultivation Expectations for Domestic production of morphine and heroin has increased substantially since Illicit precursor chemicals needed to facilitate the chemical conversion of opium into morphine base and heroin, some 1, tones of acetic anhydride heroin processing and 9, tones of other chemicals, are trafficked through Pakistan, Iran and Tajikistan each year.

Interdiction measures have succeeded in confiscating some shipments but have not made any significant impact on the industry see chart below.

In late , NATO officials announced plans to target drug traffickers and laboratories associated with insurgents for the first time. The plan drew criticism from some European NATO countries citing legal concerns over killing unarmed traffickers.

Critics claim International law prohibits nations from using military force against criminals, including drug traffickers. The number of "poppy-free" provinces has increased from 18 to 20 according to the same report. Read the glossary of terms by Center for Culture and Conflict Studies. Opium poppy plants can be refined to form the the basis for several highly addictive drugs, including heroin. After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said: "When we were in power before there was no production of drugs.

He said "we will bring opium cultivation to zero again" and that there would be no smuggling. At first, opium poppy cultivation rose substantially under Taliban rule - from around 41, hectares in , to more than 64, in , according to the US State Department. But in July the Taliban banned opium poppy farming in areas they controlled. And a UN report in May "observed the near total success of the ban in eliminating poppy cultivation in Taliban controlled areas". Following the Taliban's ban on opium poppy farming, there was a noticeable dip in opium and heroin seizures globally in and Although there has been cultivation in regions controlled until recently by the former government, most poppy growing has been concentrated in areas held by the Taliban.

Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, for example, had the most land used for poppy cultivation in when controlled by the Taliban. Opium farming is a major source of employment in Afghanistan, and in opium harvesting provided almost , jobs, according to the UNODC Afghanistan opium survey.

These information are key for planning, implementing, and monitoring global counter-narcotic efforts. United Nations. Office on Drugs and Crime. Site Search.