{"id":2755,"date":"2023-09-10T22:41:05","date_gmt":"2023-09-10T22:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/afghanistan-meth-trade-surges-as-taliban-clamp-down-on-heroin-un-report-says\/"},"modified":"2023-09-10T22:41:05","modified_gmt":"2023-09-10T22:41:05","slug":"afghanistan-meth-trade-surges-as-taliban-clamp-down-on-heroin-un-report-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/afghanistan-meth-trade-surges-as-taliban-clamp-down-on-heroin-un-report-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Afghanistan meth trade surges as Taliban clamp down on heroin, UN report says"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Methamphetamine trafficking in and around Afghanistan has surged in recent years, even as the Taliban have curbed heroin trafficking since taking power, a United Nations report said on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe surge in methamphetamine trafficking in Afghanistan and the region suggests a significant shift in the illicit drug market and demands our immediate attention,\u201d said Ghada Waly, executive director of the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC).<\/p>\n

The Taliban, who regained power<\/a> in August 2021, announced a ban<\/a> the following April on the production of narcotics in Afghanistan, the world\u2019s main opium producer. Taliban officials say its security forces are clamping down on Afghan poppy farmers and destroying crops.<\/p>\n

While heroin trafficking has slowed, the UNODC said in a statement, meth trafficking \u201chas intensified since the ban\u201d.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The UNODC said much of the meth from Afghanistan was made with pre-cursor ingredients such as those found in some cold and flu medication.<\/p>\n

Afghanistan is home to the ephedra plant, which can be used to make methamphetamine, but the UNODC said the quantities needed to produce the drug and the risk of unreliable crops meant that Afghanistan\u2019s production did not depend on the plant alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommon cold medications and industrial-grade chemicals are more efficient and cost effective for the manufacture of methamphetamine and thus pose a far bigger threat,\u201d the UNODC said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Methamphetamine trafficking in and around Afghanistan has surged in recent years, even as the Taliban have curbed heroin trafficking since taking power, a United Nations report said on Sunday. \u201cThe surge in methamphetamine trafficking in Afghanistan and the region suggests a significant shift in the illicit drug market and demands our immediate attention,\u201d said Ghada 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