Drug trafficking

Post 9/11 Afghanistan: Opium Cultivation, Production Increases Nearly 20-Fold

Opium cultivation and production has thrived over the course of the Afghanistan war despite a dramatic drop after the U.S. and NATO ended their combat mission in Afghanistan and withdrew most of their troops at the end of 2014.

Amid the ongoing heroin epidemic in the United States that is killing thousands, the White House and other government agencies have sounded the alarm on Afghanistan heroinpossibly flowing into the U.S. through Canada, where most of the heroin available is from Afghanistan.

“There is also an increase in transshipments of Afghanistan heroin going to Canada, a development of concern that is being addressed by Canada with support from the United States,” noted the White House last year.

...Estimated opium production in Afghanistan in 2001 was 185 tons, the lowest since the UN began keeping track in 1994. Potential opium production reached 3,300 tons in 2015, the latest year for which data is available, marking a nearly 18-fold increase over the course of the war.