Afghanistan Black Market: $3.1 Billion
Opium Value in Afghanistan
According to the United States Department of State, the export value of Afghanistan’s 2006 opium export was $3.1 billion.
Source: 2007 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, “Southwest Asia: Afghanistan,” United States Department of State, March 2007.
90 percent of opiates smuggled into Russia from Afghanistan
Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, “Illicit Drug Trends in the Russian Federation,” April 2008.
28.7 percent of opium farmers in Afghanistan cite poverty for growing
28.7 percent of opium farmers claimed poverty alleviation as the reason for growing opium in Afghanistan.
Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, “Illicit Drug Trends in Afghanistan,” April 2008.
920,000 drug users in Afghanistan
4 percent of the population, or 920,000 people, are estimated drug users in Afghanistan.
Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, “Illicit Drug Trends in Afghanistan,” April 2008.
34 percent average increase in poppy cultivation in Post-Taliban era
Opium poppy cultivation has increased on average by 34 percent every year since the Taliban was disposed of in 2001.
Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, “Illicit Drug Trends in Afghanistan,” April 2008.
Afghanistan is also the world’s biggest supplier of cannabis
Source:“UNODC anticipates another large opium crop in Afghanistan in 2008,” UNODC, February 6, 2008.
Afghanistan accounts for 90 percent of the world’s poppy crop
Source:“UNODC anticipates another large opium crop in Afghanistan in 2008,” UNODC, February 6, 2008.
Taliban earning $100 million from opium tax
In early 2008, the Taliban was earning $100 million revenue by taxing the opium trade in Afghanistan.
Source: “UNODC anticipates another large opium crop in Afghanistan in 2008,” UNODC, February 6, 2008.
Price difference between wheat and poppy seeds in Afghanistan
In an article about the drug eradication program in The New Yorker, writer Jon Lee Anderson reported on the price difference for farmers harvesting opium. According to interviews with local Afghan farmers, a farmer is able to receive “about thirty-three dollars from an acre of wheat, and between five hundred and seven hundred dollars from [...]
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