Dr Sana Imran
Afghanistan has been the ground zero of narcotics for decades now. Massive opium production, relentless manufacturing of synthetic drugs and the complex drug economy of Afghanistan are perennial issues, confronting the region and the globe. Afghanistan alone produces 40 per cent of global drugs, with more than 90 per cent of Opiates (e.g Heroin, Morphine, Codeine, Hydrocodone, etc), circulating in the world’s drug markets. Despite being a landlocked country with no industrial base, each year Afghanistan imports large quantities of precursor chemicals, which are presumably used in the manufacturing of synthetic drugs, particularly Methamphetamine or Ice. The decline in production of plant-based opiates has shifted focus towards the production of dangerous synthetic drugs, such as Methamphetamine. Trafficking of chemical drugs along the shifting routes is introducing new challenges to the counter-narcotics LEAs.
Synthetic drugs have actually emerged as a new business model for drug lords, due to their relative ease of production, greater difficulty in detection and relative resilience to climate change. Other than production, seizures of Methamphetamine in and around Afghanistan remained 50 per cent higher by late 2024 compared to 2023. Each year, production and trafficking of Methamphetamine from Afghanistan are increasing. The organised crime groups, which are otherwise rampant in Afghanistan, are also favouring the production of synthetic drugs, which is the reason for their stable prices in the drug markets. Resultantly, Methamphetamine (Ice) manufacturing factories are a common sight across the length and breadth of Afghanistan, particularly in its bordering regions. It is in this vein that Afghanistan must not be misconstrued as the opium capital of the world, but a leading player in the manufacturing of synthetic drugs as well. The counter-narcotics strategies need to be broadened beyond opium to integrate synthetic drugs in monitoring, interdiction and analysis, as well as demand-reduction responses.
On November 6, 2025, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released its report on Afghanistan. According to that report, opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan in 2025 decreased by 20 per cent compared to 2024, reaching an estimated total of 296 tons. Total area under opium cultivation in Afghanistan during 2025 is estimated at 10,200 hectares, which is lower than 2024 (12,800 hectares) and a fraction of the pre-ban levels recorded in 2022 (232,000 hectares). The farmer’s income from opium sales has almost halved over the period from
US $ 260 million in 2024 to US $ 134 million in 2025. While the price of dry opium in 2025 has fallen by 27 per cent to US $ 570 compared to US $ 780 in 2024, it is still five times higher than the pre-ban average.
It is equally important to understand the motives and implications of the Taliban’s poppy strategy. In 2022, the Taliban imposed a ban on poppy cultivation in Afghanistan. Though there was a massive 95 per cent decrease during 2023, such a severe decline in opium output proved only to be temporary, as 2024 saw a spike of
19 per cent in cultivation and 30 per cent in production. Afghanistan produced
433 tons of opium in 2024. A geographic shift in cultivation patterns was also observed. Opium cultivation shifted from the south-western provinces (ie, traditional opium hub) to new fields in the north-eastern provinces, where almost two-thirds of cultivation.
(59 per cent) Took place during 2024. This represented a sharp 381 per cent increase in north eastern provinces over 2023. While the Taliban enforced a ban in 2022, very cunningly, they announced a grace period of 10 months to clear the existing stocks. This way, by stopping production for a while, they created the desired demand. Also, by maintaining a calibrated supply, they sold the existing stocks at much higher prices, thus minting fortunes despite the so-called ban. Afghanistan’s economy has always thrived on the narco-dollars.
Despite lower cultivation figures during 2025, the presence of large opium stockpiles in Afghanistan and a surge in production of synthetic drugs indicates that the regional threat is far from over. According to UNODC, opiate stocks at the end of 2022 were estimated to have totalled 13,200 tons – enough to potentially meet demand for Afghan opiates until 2027. These stockpiles are always at risk of global re-circulation through informal levies like “usher” or tolerated trafficking. So, once there are talks about a reduction in the production of opium in Afghanistan, questions must also be raised about the levels of existing stock of opium with the drug-rich Taliban. It is ideal to destroy the accumulated drug stockpiles under independent international supervision. Otherwise, any decline in cultivation figures will remain a temporary and incomplete phenomenon.
The drugs produced in Afghanistan do not remain confined to their borders but transcend frontiers illegally and become a grave threat to public health and safety in the region and beyond. Pakistan’s proximity to Afghanistan renders it highly vulnerable to the ill effects of drug trafficking through its western border. Pakistan’s territory is often misused as a transit route for Afghan-based drugs. Around 40% of illicit Afghan-based drugs pass through Pakistan, making it a “Victim and Transit State”. Now the heroin based transit route is on the verge of deteriorating into a synthetic drugs transit route. The methamphetamine production surge in Afghanistan bears dire implications for Pakistan, which will not only exacerbate Pakistan’s internal drug crisis but will have a serious toll on the Health Departments and LEAs.
Reportedly, during the Poppy Eradication Campaign-2024/2025, Pakistani authorities apprehended and repatriated 110 Afghan nationals, who crossed the border illegally and were directly involved in poppy cultivation inside Pakistan. Pakistani authorities mandated with counter-narcotics tasks are actually acting as a barrier between Afghan-origin drugs and the world by busting drug trafficking organisations (DTOs) and seizing large quantities of drugs destined for global destinations. Ironically, the Afghan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA) is also exploited by Afghan drug barons for trafficking and proliferation of drugs. Pakistani authorities have repeatedly seized Afghan-origin Heroin and Methamphetamine, concealed in cargo containers, which were transiting through its ports and trade routes, under the guise of APTTA.
International Narcotics Control Board (INCB)’s Report-2024 finds that the proliferation of synthetic drugs is reshaping the illicit drug markets, and criminals are quick to exploit the regulatory loopholes. The exploitation of 2611 a 2611-kilometre-long porous border with Afghanistan, the re-utilisation of existing opium routes, and the inherent Hawala-Hundi system facilitate the drug pilferage into Pakistan. Largely, Methamphetamine is smuggled alongside heroin from Afghanistan, while using bribes, child mules, non-traditional routes, sling shots, advanced drones, camels and fishing boats, to dodge detection.
Notwithstanding all the challenges, Pakistan continues to deliver much more than its share towards public health and safety. In 2024 alone, counter narcotics authorities of Pakistan, with Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) in the lead, confiscated 361 metric tons of drugs, including Heroin, Opium, Cannabis and Methamphetamine, etc. Similarly, internationally coordinated operations in the maritime domain accrued massive seizures. One case in point is the recent seizure (worth nearly US $ 1 billion) by the Pakistan Navy in international waters with assistance from the KSA. Besides active enforcement measures, coordinated campaigns are run to create mass awareness and reduce the drug demand. Pakistan’s premier counter-narcotics LEA, ANF, is running a nationwide campaign, which is centred on the educational institutes of the country. These awareness campaigns in universities, colleges, schools and communities are meant to inspire the youth and reduce the demand for drugs. On the recuperation side, drug treatment and rehabilitation centres of ANF are functional in Islamabad, Quetta, Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur, affording free-of-cost services and facilities to drug victims. It is therefore evident that Pakistan is serving as a front-line state against global drug trafficking.
Owing to the enormity of the challenge, no nation can do it alone. The regional and global forces have to join hands for the identification of the root cause, exertion of needful pressure on countries patronising this menace and support the front-line players like Pakistan in their efforts to combat the drug trafficking. Sure and verified destruction of Afghan opium stockpiles under international oversight, systematic crackdown on drug cartels to dismantle the smuggling chains, stronger trade and border controls and sustainable livelihood programs for Afghan farmers to reduce their dependency on opium cultivation or synthetic drugs manufacturing are the essential steps. Like the War on Terror, the War against Drugs has become inevitable as a global slogan today.
The writer is an academic and can be reached at chivalier37 @gmail.com.
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