Afghan Opium Production a Threat to Global Security

Close to 90% of global opium supply comes from Afghanistan. Afghan opium illicit trade is financing Taliban, other anti-government forces, terrorists and insurgency groups in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the rest of the world. Drug trafficking, insurgency and terrorism are linked. Most illicit drugs are produced in regions of conflict and war, in Asia and Latin America and are the source of funding for insurgency and terrorism.

According to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates, Taliban generated $450 - $600 million from Afghan opium production from 2005 to 2008. Also, Taliban and other groups that are linked to al-Qaeda have been taking a share of opium market in Pakistan that is estimated at $1 billion. Opium trade is also funding insurgency in Central Asia. The East Turkistan Liberation Organization, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and the Islamic Party of Turkmenistan are generating considerable income from opium trade.

Afghan border with Pakistan is wide open. Insurgents are moving easily across the border. It became also the major route for smuggling of drugs, weapons, chemicals precursors and money to Central Asia, the Russian Federation and Europe.

UNODC is reporting that approximately 900 tons of opium and 370 tons of heroin are trafficked each year from Afghanistan, with opium being smuggled to Europe via Balkan route (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania) and Central Asia route (Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation).

Likewise, UNODC is estimating that global seizures of cocaine from the Andean countries are much higher than seizures of opium from Afghanistan. Only 2% of Afghan opium is seized in Afghanistan. The seizure rates of opium flows are better in Pakistan (17%) and in the Islamic Republic of Iran (20%). Close to 90 tons of heroin are smuggled through the territory of the countries of Central Asia, with meager 5% seized. The Russian Federation seizes 4%.

Also, according to UNODC figures, 15 million opiate users worldwide consume approximately 3,700 tons of illicit opium per year, the majority of them, roughly 11 million, being heroin users. Close to half of global heroin is consumed in Europe including Russia, the rest in China, Iran, India, Pakistan, Africa and the Americas. Afghan opium causes 100,000 deaths each year.

Afghan opium generates approximately $60 billion per year; however, most of the profits are made by drug traffickers outside of Afghanistan. Since 2006, opium production has doubled, with most of it produced in the South and West of Afghanistan, the regions that are very unstable with security problems and very weak government control.

It is estimated that because of heavy opium production between 2006 and 2009, 12,000 tons are currently being withheld and are in the possession of drug traffickers and insurgent groups. The reason for keeping so much opium from the market might very well be economic as well as "political," namely as a funding source for the insurgent and terrorist groups.

Controlled and non-controlled chemicals are needed for opium production from Afghan crop. They are usually smuggled into Afghanistan from licit sources.

According to UNODC, the value of the global market for illicit drugs is over $300 billion annually. It is estimated that 172 million to 250 million people used illicit drugs in 2009 alone. Illicit drug use is among the top ten health risks in developing countries. United States and Canada consume approximately 22 tons of heroin, with some of it being trafficked also from Afghanistan.

Source: UN, UNODC