Afghanistan has long had a history of opium poppy cultivation and harvest. Prior to the 2021 Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, Afghanistan's harvest produced more than 90% of illicit heroin globally, and more than 95% of the European supply.Felbab-Brown p. 113 More land was used for opium in Afghanistan than for coca cultivation in Latin America. The country was the world's leading illicit drug producer from 2001 until 2024. In 2007, 93% of the non-pharmaceutical-grade opiates on the world market originated in Afghanistan. In 2019 Afghanistan still produced about 84% of the world market. This amounts to an export value of about US$4 billion, with a quarter being earned by opium farmers and the rest going to district officials, insurgents, warlords, and drug traffickers. In the seven years (1994–2000) prior to a Taliban opium ban, the Afghan farmers' share of gross income from opium was divided among 200,000 families.
The Taliban have taken a mixed stance on opium over the years. Poorly enforced restrictions in the 1990s were a prelude to a full ban on religious grounds in 2000. However, the Afghan war in 2001 led to the ban being only briefly effective. The opium trade spiked in 2006 after the Taliban lost control of local warlords. Despite having previously banned opium, the Taliban used opium money to fuel their two-decade campaign to retake Afghanistan, with Taliban allegedly earning up to 60% of their annual revenue from the trade. The then Afghan government also outlawed production, but despite help from coalition military forces to tamp down on drug trafficking, the ban did little to stop production. After the Fall of Kabul in 2021, the opium trade boomed, and most farmers planted at least some opium for harvest in spring 2022. The Taliban outlawed production again in April 2022, during the poppy harvest. In November 2023, a U.N report showed that in the entirety of Afghanistan, poppy cultivation dropped by over 95%, removing it from its place as being the world's largest opium producer. In 2023, U.N declared that the Chin State and Sagaing Region of Myanmar produce harvested poppy surpassing Afghanistan. The rise of poppy cultivation has extended up to Manipur, an Indian state. There are reports that financing Kuki-Chin militants comes from poppy export.
History
The dry climate and difficulty of transporting fresh produce makes export agriculture hard in Afghanistan. The opium poppy however is drought tolerant, doesn't spoil on long voyages, is easy to transport and store, and sells for a premium. With a farm gate price of approximately $125 per kilogram for dry opium (2007 prices), an Afghan farmer can make 17 times more profit growing opium poppy ($4,622 per hectare), than by growing wheat ($266 per hectare).
Afghanistan first began producing opium in significant quantities in the mid-1950s, to supply its neighbor Iran after poppy cultivation was banned there. Afghanistan and Pakistan increased production and became major suppliers of opiates to Western Europe and North America in the mid-1970s, when political instability combined with a prolonged drought disrupted supplies from the Golden Triangle.Felbab-Brown p.114
Soviet period (1979–1989) After a Soviet-backed left-wing government in Afghanistan failed to gain popular support, the Soviets decided to invade. The U.S., Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and other countries began to covertly support the mujahideen guerrillas fighting the Soviets. During the conflict, the Afghan-Pakistan border became a key area in the global heroin trade, with a network of drug labs opening in 1979 and 1980. A number of resistance leaders concentrated on increasing opium production in their regions to finance their operations, regardless of its haram Islamic status, in particular Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Mullah Nasim Akhundzada, and Ismat Muslim. The production was doubled to 575 metric tons between 1982 and 1983.Felbab-Brown p.115 During the 1970s, opium production in Afghanistan stood at 100 tonnes annually. It grew to 2,000 tonnes by 1991. Afghanistan supplied 60% of the US market and 80% of the European in 1984. According to historian Alfred McCoy "caravans carrying CIA arms into that region for the resistance often returned to Pakistan loaded down with opium." The Washington Post reported in May 1990 that the US government had over several years been receiving reports of heroin trafficking by some of its allies, including "firsthand accounts of heroin smuggling by commanders under Gulbuddin Hekmatyar", but chose not to investigate. The CIA sent around $600 million in aid to Hekmatyar's group Hizb-i-Islami militia during the war against the Soviets. Nasim Akhundzada, who controlled the traditional poppy growing region of northern Helmand, desired regional growth of his poppy and narcotics dealing. His inventory of traditional poppy was purchased during the harvest at low prices. This, and the cultivation of poppy growth were enforced with the threat of torture and execution. To maximise control of trafficking, Nasim maintained an office in Zahidan, Iran.Felbab-Brown p.116
It was alleged by the Soviets that US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agents were helping smuggle opium out of Afghanistan, either into the West, in order to raise money for the Afghan resistance, or into the Soviet Union, in order to weaken it through drug addiction. According to Alfred McCoy, the CIA supported various Afghan drug lords, for instance Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and others such as Haji Ayub Afridi.
Another factor was the eradication effort inside Pakistan (whose Inter-Services Intelligence were coincidentally supporters of the Mujahideen). The Pakistani government, US Agency for International Development (USAID) and other groups were involved in attempting to eliminate poppy cultivation from certain areas of the North-West Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bordering Afghanistan. The opium industry shifted from Pakistan into Afghanistan during the 1980s.Killing the Cranes, Edward Girardet, Chelsea Green publisher. Opium/Pakistan – p 133[pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PDABK009.pdf Project Assistance Completion Report], Northwest Frontier Area Development, 391-0485, USAID Mission to Pakistan and Afghanistan
Warlord period (1992–1996) When the Soviet Army was forced to withdraw in 1989, civil war between the Republic of Afghanistan and the Mujahedeen continued until the government's collapse in 1992. The fall of the government created a power vacuum: various Mujahideen factions started fighting against each other for power. With the discontinuation of Western support, they resorted ever more to poppy cultivation to finance their military existence.
Rise of the Taliban (1996–2001) During the Taliban rule, Afghanistan saw a bumper opium crop of in 1999.
In July 2000, Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, collaborating with the UN to eradicate heroin production in Afghanistan, declared that growing poppies was un-Islamic, resulting in one of the world's most successful anti-drug campaigns. The Taliban enforced a ban on poppy farming via threats, forced eradication, and public punishment of transgressors. The result was a 99% reduction in the area of opium poppy farming in Taliban-controlled areas, roughly three quarters of the world's supply of heroin at the time.Where have all the flowers gone?: evaluation of the Taliban crackdown against opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan The ban was effective only briefly due to the deposition of the Taliban in 2001.
However, some people (Martin, An Intimate War, 2014), suggest that certain parties benefited from the price increase during the ban. Some, even believe it was a form of market manipulation on the part of certain drug lords. Dried opium, unlike most agricultural products, can easily be stored for long periods without refrigeration or other expensive equipment. With huge stashes of opium stored in secret hideaways, the Taliban and other groups that were involved in the drug trade were in theory able to make huge personal profits during the price spikes after the 2000 ban and the chaos following the September 11 attacks.Seeds of Terror, Gretchen Peters, MacMillanPRICES AND MARKET INTERACTIONS IN THE OPIUM ECONOMY , William A. Byrd and Olivier Jonglez, World Bank (analysis of prices)
Afghan War (2001–2021)
During and after the 2001 invasion, the US allied with powerful Pashtun warlords who had been involved in drug smuggling in the country’s south-east. According to historian Alfred McCoy, this meant that when the Taliban was overthrown, "the groundwork had already been laid for the resumption of opium cultivation and the drug trade on a major scale." Ahmed Wali Karzai, the younger brother of Hamid Karzai, was allegedly a prominent drug trafficker and on the CIA payroll, though he denied this. In 2008, The New York Times reported that despite credible reports of his involvement in the trade, these were not investigated by the US government.
In December 2001, a number of prominent Afghans met in Bonn, Germany, under UN auspices to develop a plan to reestablish the State of Afghanistan, including provisions for a new constitution and national elections. As part of that agreement, the United Kingdom (UK) was designated the lead country in addressing counter-narcotics issues in Afghanistan. Afghanistan subsequently implemented its new constitution and held national elections. On December 7, 2004, Hamid Karzai was formally sworn in as president of a democratic Afghanistan."
Two of the following three growing seasons saw record levels of opium poppy cultivation. Corrupt officials may have undermined the government's enforcement efforts. Afghan farmers claimed that "government officials take bribes for turning a blind eye to the drug trade while punishing poor opium growers."
By 2005, Afghanistan was producing 90% of the world's opium. Estimates made in 2006 by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimate that 52% of the nation's GDP, amounting to US$2.7 billion annually, was generated by the drug trade. The rise in production has been linked to the deteriorating security situation, as production is markedly lower in areas with stable security. By some, the extermination of the poppy crops is not seen as a viable option because the sale of poppies constitutes the livelihood of Afghanistan's rural farmers. Some 3.3 million Afghans are involved in producing opium. Opium is more profitable than wheat and destroying opium fields could possibly lead to discontent or unrest among the indigent population. Some poppy eradication programs have, however, proven effective, especially in the north of Afghanistan. The opium poppy eradication program of Balkh Governor Ustad Atta Mohammad Noor between 2005 and 2007 successfully reduced poppy cultivation in Balkh Province from in 2005 to zero by 2007.
The Afghanistan Opium Risk Assessment 2013, issued by UNODC, suggests that the Taliban has, since 2008, been supporting farmers growing poppy, as a source of income for the insurgency.Rod Norland, "Production of Opium by Afghans Is Up Again" , New York Times, April 15, 2013