The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime announced in its latest report that opium trafficking, especially heroin, generates about $10 billion in gross revenue from Afghanistan annually; a figure that is more than the annual budget of many countries in the region.
The report, which is related to the year 2025 and its data is compiled based on statistics from 2022 and 2023, continues to introduce Afghanistan as one of the main centers of drug production and transit in the world.
According to the United Nations findings, the trafficking route from Afghanistan mainly extends through Central Asia to Russia.
The United Nations, while warning of the widespread consequences of this phenomenon, has emphasized that the potential value of Afghanistan’s drug exports in 2021 was estimated at between $1.7 and $2.6 billion, while the current annual income from trafficking is estimated at up to $10 billion.
This is while the Taliban government has declared itself committed to combating this phenomenon by claiming to prohibit the cultivation and production of drugs;
However, independent evidence and analysis indicate that trafficking networks continue to operate extensively, with a number of officials from this group playing a role.
International experts have repeatedly expressed concern about the lack of transparency in the Taliban’s anti-drug efforts and documented reports of the collusion of some local commanders of this group with trafficking networks.
According to them, the decentralized power structure in the Taliban has paved the way for corruption, misuse of resources, and facilitation of illegal trade.
The UN report also refers to the prevalence of addiction among Afghan citizens.
The report says that women mainly turn to drugs through opium and men through hashish; a trend that stems from the lack of health services, mental health crises and unemployment.
The United Nations, pointing to the relative decline in opium cultivation in recent years, has warned that in the absence of sustainable solutions and economic alternatives for farmers, this decline may not be sustainable.
Globally, according to the report, at least 316 million people will have used a type of drug in 2023; a figure that has increased compared to previous years and indicates the expansion of the global market for these substances.
