Crime in Afghanistan

Opium poppy cultivation and drug trafficking have important role in the political and economic situation of Afghanistan for last twenty-five years.

[2] Many mujahideen commanders taxed opium poppy cultivation, even directly participated in illicit drug trade for military financing.

[4] Throughout the country regional militia commanders, criminal organizations and corrupt government officials have engaged in drug trafficking as a source of revenue.

[5] Due to these factors, drug trafficking increases political instability in the nation,[5] and is a threat to the country's weak internal security and embryonic democratic government.

[7] In November 2023, a U.N report showed that in the entirety of Afghanistan, poppy cultivation dropped by over 95%, removing it from its place as being the world's largest opium producer.

[8][9] The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime's report in April 2023 highlights that analyses of the connection between Afghanistan's illicit economy and conflict have been narrowly focused on the opium economy and its by-products, while ignoring the diversified nature of the country's illegal markets, which includes sectors like illegal mining, the wildlife trade, and arms trafficking.