RASC News Agency: Ashita Mittal, the regional representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for Central Asia, expressed concern about drug cultivation and production in Afghanistan under Taliban control. Tolo News reported on Wednesday, Feb 28, citing Ms. Mittal, that various types of drugs are cultivated and produced in Afghanistan under the Taliban’s rule due to nearly forty years of instability in the country.
She added, “Afghanistan has faced instability for nearly forty years under Taliban rule, and the economy couldn’t thrive in this country, leading to opium becoming a currency.” The regional representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime asserted that besides opium production, methamphetamine is also produced in Afghanistan under the Taliban’s control. Ashita Mittal emphasized, “What is observed today in Afghanistan is not only the production of opium, which is then processed into heroin in this country, but also the production of methamphetamine.”
Meanwhile, the United Nations also stated in a report regarding the drug situation in Afghanistan under Taliban control that poppy cultivation in this country has decreased. However, concurrently with the decline in poppy cultivation, the production of synthetic drugs, especially crystal methamphetamine, is increasing in this country. Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesperson, responded to these claims, stating, “Ordinary people used to cultivate opium in Afghanistan due to their needs, but after this group came, opium cultivation has been completely halted, and it is almost negligible.”
