Myanmar has risen to become the world’s largest producer of opium in 2023, surpassing the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan which had launched a crackdown on poppy cultivation in 2021 after the civilian government collapsed.

Myanmar surpasses Afghanistan to become world’s largest opium producer following Taliban’s crackdown

New Satellite images claim to reveal that opium production has fallen drastically across Afghanistan. The Taliban say they have completely eliminated it. What's the truth?

Gravitas: Have the Taliban eliminated poppy cultivation?

The United Nations Security Council has put fresh allegations against the Islamist group, Taliban. In their latest report, the UN has raised concerns around the Taliban restoring its past form of governance that was before the US invasion of 2001.

UNSC report on Taliban-governed Afghanistan: End of Opium cultivation in Afghanistan | WION

Reversing a steady decline that was seen in the Opium cultivation between 2014 and 2020, the illicit crop growing has surged in Myanmar since the military seized the power in 2021 and this is according to the United Nations in its annual Opium survey for 2022.

Myanmar: Opium cultivation surges, UN report says surge under military rule

The Taliban administration in Afghanistan has banned the cultivation and distribution of opium along with a total ban on other intoxicants.

Taliban ban opium cultivation, distribution in Afghanistan in the latest crackdown on intoxicants

Opium poppy cultivation and harvesting have long been a part of Afghanistan's history. By 2021, Afghanistan's harvest will account for more than 90% of worldwide illegal heroin production and more than 95% of European supply.

Afghanistan produces 85% of the world's opium: UN report

Two persons were arrested while further search is taking place across India, in connection with the seizure of around 3,000 kgs of heroin, originating from Afghanistan, from a port in India's Gujarat state.

Massive drug haul: Indian authorities reveal how heroin worth $2.7 bn was busted on way from Afghanistan

Heroin production has boomed in Afghanistan in recent years, helping fund the Taliban, and experts say they will struggle to wean themselves off the profitable trade despite their promise to do so.

Taliban vow to ban heroin, but can they survive without it?

MIR ALI, Afghanistan — On the barren high plains of western Afghanistan, along a roadway south of Herat city, is a collection of sturdy earthen huts known as Qala-e-Biwaha, or “village of widows.

In a village of widows, the opium trade has taken a deadly toll

Taliban, coronavirus, crippling economy, floods, rising unemplyment and limited resources: Afghanistan has been one of the worst-hit countries this year. As the pandemic and the floods hit the country, locals lost their paid and season jobs, and had to turn to the next best solution.

Afghan children and unemployed turn to opium for quick cash

Harvest season has started and it's a busy time for 20-year-old Afghan farmer, Mohammad Ahmadi. But instead of traditional wheat or corn, Ahmadi is scratching poppies -- a herbaceous plant with showy flowers and pink sap -- in the Panjwayi district of Kandahar province.

Harvesting to build a better future for some Afghan farmers

Mohammad Ahmadi, a young opium farmer in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar has the kind of confidence that underlines how meagre the results have been of years of effort and billions of dollars spent fighting narcotics.

As pressure for Afghan peace grows, drug threat remains

Opium-addicted parrots raid farms in India

Fields of purple opium poppy stretch across the pastures and peaks of mountainous eastern Myanmar, with many farmers reluctant to give up the profitable cash crop in spite of incentives offered.

Myanmar's opium farmers cling on to lucrative crop

Myanmar has seized 370 kilogrammes (815 pounds) of heroin worth $4.7 million during a raid in the northeast, police said, the latest big bust in the world's second-largest opium producer after Afghanistan.

Myanmar seizes heroin haul worth $4.7 million: Police

Afghan opium producers were hit hard by the worst drought in living memory this year and excessive supply, with output and prices falling sharply as the area under poppy cultivation shrank, an annual survey said Monday.

Afghan opium producers hit hard by drought in 2018

'Last night we conducted strikes in northern Helmand to hit the Taliban where it hurts, in their narcotics financing,' US Army General John Nicholson said

US, Afghan forces strike opium factories to curb Taliban funds

The price of opium as it left farms in war-torn Afghanistan this year soared by 55% to almost $1.4 billion', said the UN Office on Drugs and Crime

Afghan opium output soars as cultivation hits record high

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