According to a report by the US State Department revealed on Thursday, Afghanistan once again topped the list of world’s biggest narcotics producers with drug smugglers using a route through India more than the previous years.
The annual report on global trends in illegal narcotics trade confirmed that Afghanistan retained its position as the world’s top opiate producer.
It also said that the drugs smuggled in 2012 through India from Afghanistan were increasing via Pakistan.
Afghan Counter-Narcotics Deputy Minister Mohammad Ibrahim Azhar said the smugglers were finding new ways of transferring the drugs out of Afghanistan.
“Because of some threats by Iran and Turkey in the border regions, the smugglers have changed their way of transferring drugs. Now they smuggle via Pakistan to other countries,” he said.
According to the ministry, poppy cultivation in Afghanistan increased 18 percent from 2011 to 2012, but drug production dropped by 40 percent mainly because of the government’s poppy eradication drive whereby government and security forces physically destroy farmers’ poppy crops.
Most of Afghanistan’s poppy cultivation happened in the south and west areas of Afghanistan, both for its suitable climate and in areas where security is less tight.
