Drug trafficking

The DEA's Opium War with the Taliban

The Taliban earns up to four hundred million dollars a year from growing opium—funds often directed toward attacking US soldiers. In fact, Afghanistan has come to produce 90 percent of the world's opium to date.

Back in the 1970s, an American law enforcement agency found itself waging a controversial counternarcotics campaign, not only the US, but also the Greater Middle East. To this day, the Drug Enforcement Administration participates in an $8.5 billion crusade against the Golden Crescent's largest drug cartel. But between ongoing violence, corruption, and CIA activities, these efforts have been rocky, to say the least.