The Taliban have outlawed cultivation of drugs, including opium poppy, across Afghanistan, the world’s biggest opium producer, which accounts for 85 percent of global production.
A decree, issued by the Taliban’s supreme leader Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhunzada on April 3, also banned the production, usage, transportation, trade, export and import of all other drugs.
According to TOLOnews, the decree, read by Islamic Emirate spokesman Zabihullah Maujahid, says there is a “strict ban” on the use and trafficking of “all types of illicit drugs” such as alcoholic beverages, heroin, “Tablet K”, hashish and others.
The decree also puts a ban on the production of illicit drugs.
“If anyone violates the decree, the crop will be destroyed immediately and the violator will be treated according to the Sharia law,” says the order announced by the Taliban Interior Ministry at a news conference in Kabul.
Earlier, the Taliban police destroyed tens of barrels of wine in Kabul and other provinces s banning the sale and use, according to the Khaama Press.
A report released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) in November last year, notes that the opium harvest in Afghanistan increased by 8 percent in 2021, compared to last year, to 6.800 tons. The report warned that the output could lead to markets around the globe being flooded with around 320 tons of pure heroin trafficked from the country.
The UNODC estimated in its report that income from Afghan opiates amounted to US$1.8- to US$2.7 billion in 2021 inside Afghanistan, but much larger profits are made in the illicit drug supply chains outside the country.
