Record Opium Production in Afghanistan

March 1, 2008
Record Opium Production in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON — The Taliban have built a huge and profitable drug operation in Afghanistan while provincial governors look the other way, the latest grim sign of backsliding in a country the U.S. has spent six years and billions of dollars trying to salvage.

A report Friday on drugs — saying Afghanistan now produces 93 percent of the world's opium poppy — comes amid a resurgence of Taliban militants despite U.S. anti-insurgent efforts. Also on the rise: terrorist violence such as roadside bombs, suicide bombings, and attacks on police.

Opium trade funds one-third of the total Afghan economy

April 10, 2007
Opium trade funds one-third of the total Afghan economy

In 2001, farmers produced more than 400,000 pounds of opium from poppy seeds. Last year, that number grew to more than 13 million pounds. Of Afghanistan's 35 provinces, only six are poppy-free.

This year's opium harvest will begin later in April.

The opium trade funds one-third of the total Afghan economy and produces 90 percent of the world's heroin supply.

"I don't know if it's 90 percent or what percent," Afghan President Hamid Karzai told "Good Morning America" anchor Diane Sawyer. "Poppy is an embarrassment for us as a nation, but it's a reality. It's like a disease — you have to cure it. As much as we are ashamed of it, it is there. So we have to cure it."