- Methamphetamine Trafficking on the Rise in Afghanistan
- Taliban Crackdown on Opium Production, but Meth Trafficking Grows
- UNODC Reports Surge in Meth Seizures and Production in Afghanistan and Neighboring Countries
The United Nations reported on Sunday that methamphetamine trafficking in and around Afghanistan has increased in recent years, even as the Taliban have reduced opium trafficking since seizing power.
“The surge in methamphetamine trafficking in Afghanistan and the region suggests a significant shift in the illicit drug market and demands our immediate attention,” said Ghada Waly, executive director of the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The Taliban, who regained power in August 2021, banned the production of narcotics in Afghanistan, the world’s largest opium producer, in April 2022. According to Taliban officials, its security forces are cracking down on poppy cultivators in Afghanistan and destroying their crops.
The UNODC stated in a statement that while heroin trafficking has slowed, meth trafficking “has intensified since the ban.”
In the five years leading up to 2021, the number of meth seizures in and around Afghanistan increased twelvefold. Between 2019 and 2022, seizures increased in neighboring nations such as Iran and Pakistan. According to the report, countries as far away as France and Australia have seized methamphetamine that presumably originated in Afghanistan.
The UNODC said that Afghanistan created a lot of methamphetamine from cold and flu drugs.
Afghanistan is home to the ephedra plant, which can be used to create methamphetamine, but the UNODC stated that Afghanistan’s methamphetamine production did not depend solely on the plant due to the quantities required and the risk of unreliable crops.
“Common cold medications and industrial-grade chemicals are more efficient and cost-effective for the production of methamphetamine, posing a significantly greater threat,” the UNODC stated.
