The Taliban’s Drug Empire

Everyone reading this most likely remembers the shameful exit of the US Armed Forces from Afghanistan in 2021, after a disastrous 20 year so-called ‘War on Terrorism’ that started without proper justification and ended without completing claimed objectives. This article isn’t about this, rather the couple of years following this event as the Taliban took back control of the Government of Afghanistan and began implementing their own ideas about how to run the country. During the US occupation, one of the principal jobs of the military was to patrol and protect the vast poppy fields that produced more than 90% of the world's opium supply. Once the military left the country, the Taliban seized these fields and their drug empire began.

So you might be guessing that the Taliban came in and started collecting all that opium revenue for themselves, and you wouldn’t be completely wrong. But… this is only half the story. Once they seized control of the government and effectively controlled the poppy fields, the Taliban made an announcement that sounded crazy to any sane person. They would prohibit the cultivation of opium, the giant cash crop that they just acquired.

At first, this sounds like a terrible economic decision. The narrative surrounding the news was that the Taliban was taking a moral high ground and would not participate in the drug trade, whether the drugs were legal or not. As the majority of the opium produced was destined to prescription drugs, not black market drugs, this seemed like an over-the-top way for the Taliban to show that they are a valid religious group with morals and ethics and even though opium was legal, they would still take a stand against the abuse of pharmaceutical companies using the drug. The Taliban, as it would seem, didn’t care about the potential for economic gain and preferred to do what was ‘right’.

As it would turn out, the decision to outlaw poppy cultivation was anything but a moral or ethical one. The 2022 law made it illegal to plant poppy, but not to harvest it or sell it. So, all plants that were already in the ground were still able to be harvested and sold. What a coincidence that the law was announced in the middle of the growing season, not before. All poppy from 2022 was harvested and stockpiled for future sale.

This law created an instant economic boom. Supply shortages of opium across the world caused prices to skyrocket, effectively allowing the Taliban to sell off small quantities of Opium at exorbitant prices, creating an increase in drug revenue for the country. The concept is simple supply and demand, decrease the supply without decreasing the demand and you get a price increase. A merchant can sell 10 bananas for $1 each and make $10, or he can sell the last banana that exists for $20. Farmers’ income from opium sales tripled from $425 million in 2021 to $1.4 billion in 2022.

We believe this is not a coincidence, but rather a calculated move by the Taliban to look good on the world stage while continuing to collect record revenues from selling opium while at the same time causing shortages for patients here in the US. Many pharmacies are having problems keeping opioids in stock. Many patients are being forced to wait for pain-killers or even drive more than an hour to a pharmacy that has opioids in stock.

In addition to the Opium trade, the Taliban has also begun producing Meth. Instead of growing ephedra, they are purchasing the active ingredient ephedrine directly from China. This makes the process simpler and much more lucrative. So much for the idea of the Taliban making moral decisions. According to the Associated Press, “An Afghan health official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said around 20,000 people are in hospitals for drug addiction, mostly to crystal meth. Of these patients, 350 are women. He said children are also being treated, but did not give the number nor their ages.”

Reuters reports the following, “Meth seizures in and around Afghanistan jumped 12-fold in the five years through 2021. Between 2019 and 2022, nearby countries such as Iran and Pakistan also reported increased seizures. Countries as far away as France and Australia have reported seizing methamphetamine that likely originated in Afghanistan it said.”

A quick google of ‘Taliban Meth’ will produce numerous articles from AP News, Reuters, CNN, etc discussing the Taliban’s actions with its opium and meth trade. One can only assume that the Taliban is acting with its own best interests in mind and isn’t presenting everything as it really is.