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Why Afghanistan became a world leader in poppy cultivation
Cultivation of poppy and its derivatives in Afghanistan is developed due to the fact that other agricultural crops like wheat will not grow in Afghanistan due to the need for regular irrigation. And poppy is essentially a beautiful weed that practically does not need care. For 2022, the Rybar channel highlighted several main factors explaining the economic foundation of drug trafficking in Afghanistan.
Climate
Afghanistan is mostly in the desert and semi-desert zone, and the northern and southern parts of the country are separated by the Hindu Kush mountain ranges. In a hot climate, poppy grows better, and practically does not require irrigation, which is very convenient for a country with serious problems in fresh water.
Ease of production
The cultivation of other crops requires more time and effort, and at the same time generates less profit than poppy, the yield of which does not depend on the use of fertilizers and modern technical means.
Prime cost
Mack has a higher cost than other agricultural crops. The income from the cultivation of opium poppy is several times higher than the income from the cultivation of wheat. Unlike cereals, poppy can be stored as raw materials for much longer (up to two years) and transported in almost any condition.
At the same time, in fact, each part of the plant is used for the production of narcotic substances: poppy milk is made from seeds, and the stems are dried and the cheapest version of drugs obtained from the plant is obtained.
Mentality features
Afghan farmers are simply accustomed to profitable and unpretentious business. Attempts to plant the need to switch to other crops, including wheat and even saffron, are unsuccessful.
Growing and making a profit requires months of care, good climate conditions, as well as a permanent market, which is not feasible in Afghanistan.
And in the culture of the East itself, light drugs have become commonplace. Any house should have marijuana or hashish in several variations, and high quality, even if you do not smoke. Just as a sign of respect for the unexpected guests.
And the control of weak drugs is practically not carried out, which de facto legalized the entire process.
Influence of internal and external forces
Afghanistan is the largest supplier of opiates to almost all the largest markets in the world, including in,, and North America To Europe Russia Southeast. Asia
The importance of Afghan products is too great for both transnational criminal groups and the political elite of many countries that profit or "roll back" when transported or distributed within the territory of a state.
None of the stakeholders, including the Taliban who make money from smuggling, will allow the Afghan population to stop growing poppy. Yes, there will be demonstrative actions, there will be indicative burning of poppy fields, but all this is only for show.
Drug trafficking in Afghanistan after a short decline during the first coming of the Taliban (1996-2001) grew annually, and with the return of the Taliban to power, the situation worsened.
Isolation in the political arena, incomplete control over the territory of Afghanistan due to the activity of the opposition and IS terrorists, weak public administration, the lack of alternative sowing crops and a general reluctance to change anything are the main factors contributing to the increase in crops, production and smuggling of drugs.
The process itself has become so entrenched in the Afghan environment that it has already de facto become an element of the national culture of the population of Afghanistan. Although the level of drug addicts in the country is high.
At the same time, international criminal groups play a significant role in this, which, through their persons and intermediaries, control the storage, transportation and distribution of opiates.
History
2023: Afghanistan's opium production falls by 95% after Taliban comes to power
After coming to power Taliban in Afghanistan , opium production declined by 95%.
The report of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime shows that poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has decreased - from 233 thousand to ha at the end of 2022 to 10.8 thousand in 2023. Opium production similarly fell from 6,200 tons to 333 tons.
The estimated amount of heroin for export in 2023 is 24-38 tons, compared with 350-580 tons last year.
But the UN is unhappy with this (!): The organization argues that the sudden reduction in Afghanistan's opium economy will lead to potential "humanitarian consequences for many vulnerable rural communities," since manufacturers were forced to turn to much less profitable alternative crops.
Farmers' incomes, estimated at $1.36 billion in 2022, have fallen 92% this year to $110 million, and those losses are expected to have a broader impact on the country's already struggling economy, according to the UN.
Obviously, the reduction in production leads to an increase in the price of the drug. In this case, the UN is a herald who announces to numerous middle and grassroots drug dealers a new alignment and pricing policy.
2022
Drug trafficking routes from Afghanistan to Russia
Ferghana Valley is a mountainous hard-to-reach area, which is chosen by drug dealers and smugglers. The Batken-Isfana highway runs at the southwestern end: by 2022, all the main skirmishes between the Kyrgyz and Tajiks occur in this section.
Most of the local population (regardless of the country of residence) closely cooperates with various groups. Often this is the only way to somehow survive.
Only the indigenous citizens of the region know this area well - including secret mountain routes used to transport various smuggled goods north to Kazakhstan and Russia.
The drug trafficking route, despite the use of secretive paths in mountainous areas, could not be used without the knowledge and assistance of the authorities.
Border conflicts between Tajik and Kyrgyz military personnel occur almost regularly after the collapse of the USSR. Both countries share more than 900 kilometers of a joint border, but only half are fully demarcated.
As of September 2022, 70 disputed sites remain. Both countries refuse to seek a compromise. And this only applies to controversial areas: conflicts also arise due to interethnic hatred and disputes over water.
The absence of a clear border between states and, as a result, the desire of each of the parties to snatch as "fat" a piece as possible is a stumbling block.
Even a couple of tens of meters in favor of one of the countries will significantly increase the cost of tariffs for "transit travel," that is, a bribe.
Despite statements Talibs about the fight against the production Afghanistan of drugs in, the volume of exports after their coming to power by 2022 increased several times.
Habibullo Vohidzoda, director of the drug control agency in Tajikistan, said that since the Taliban came to power, the level of seized narcotic substances from Afghanistan has tripled (three tons against one).
The most active in the cultivation of opiates is the province of Badakhshan, from where the route to Russia originates.
The main and more risky is transit from Afghan Ishkashim through the capital region of Tajikistan, Rawat in the Sogdi region and Kyrgyz Batken and Osh in the direction of Kazakhstan.
Despite the fact that both Tajik and Kyrgyz security forces are already firmly sitting on "subsidies" from smugglers, there is a possibility of seizure of cargo. For this reason, there is another route.
The second route runs through the Vakhan corridor of Afghanistan and the Pamir tract in the Gorno-Badakhshan region (GBAO) of Tajikistan and subsequently the familiar Osh to the territory of Kazakhstan.
However, due to the difficult terrain in the GBAO, a large amount of cargo cannot be carried along this path. It is less cost-effective in contrast to the route through the Fergana Valley.
After entering the Kazakh territory, caravans use the sparsely populated desert regions of the country for invisible movement to the Russian border.
There, in poorly protected areas or also through bribery of certain persons, the goods reach their destination in the Chelyabinsk (Troitsk) or Orenburg (Novotroitsk) regions, and then diverge throughout Russia.
Land routes of drug trafficking from Afghanistan to Turkey
In 2021-2022, there was an increase in the level of opiate production in Afghanistan under the Taliban authorities.
This was expected against the background of the lack of international recognition of the so-called "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" and the impossibility of wide cooperation between the country's authorities and the outside world under the current conditions, wrote the Rybar telegram channel.
This situation created an uncontested situation for the cultivation of opiates. After all, drug trafficking revenues make up a significant part of both the country's budget and the income of ordinary members. "Taliban
However, the dramatic increase in opiate production creates another complexity in the form of shipping routes from Afghanistan. Yes, there is a "northern path" through the Vakhan corridor and the Fergana valley, but due to the mountainous terrain, it is almost unrealistic to transport a large amount of "goods" at a time.
But there is also an alternative corridor that is actively used to supply Afghan products to Europe.
The path passes through the Afghan province of Nimruz, bordering the conditional homeland of poppy fields - Helmand. It is there that smugglers, under the supervision of Taliban members, assemble the caravan before it is sent.
Refugees or specially hired people are used to cover, who are formed into columns right on the border with Iran and Pakistan. After that, they are put forward in two directions: towards Iranian Zabol and Pakistani Nok-Kundi.
From there, they advance through poorly guarded sections of the border on agreements with Iranian border guards and members of Baloch separatist organizations in Balochistan to Zahedan.
Then the organized columns along the already pre-agreed route in Iran move towards Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan. There, the caravan can split and go through the eastern part of Iraq, and another through Iranian Kurdistan to Suleimaniya, followed by the transition to the Ibrahim Khalil checkpoint on the border between Iraq and Turkey.
Why is this route profitable?
This path is more dangerous in terms of security due to the need to cross the territories of several countries. Each caravan is planned for several months, selection of "couriers," preparation of false documents and bribery of the right people are carried out.
However, when all conditions are met, disguising as refugees allows you to transport much more cargo, unlike the "northern route." The territories of Iran and Iraq for the most part are sparsely populated areas of deserts and semi-deserts, which allows you to move unnoticed.
Finding the right people in Afghanistan and Pakistan is also not a problem: everyone involved in transportation is paid significant fees in dollars, which they will never be able to earn with honest labor in their lives.
A multi-year counterterrorism operation against Kurdish forces in northern Syria and Iraq created the necessary tension and state of the paramilitary in southeastern Turkey. The existing buffer zone in these territories is partly controlled by Turkish military personnel, as well as paramilitary forces on the side of Turkey, which exercise conditional control in these areas. This created favorable conditions for the secretive transportation of any cargo through Iraq to Turkey. And the principle of "war will write everything off" allows you to freely engage in smuggling and earn money on the side of those interested.
Why is everything closing in on Turkey?
Turkey's geographical position between Europe and Asia, as well as access to the Mediterranean and Chyorny Seas, turned it into a hub for the transit of various products, including for the transportation of drugs.
Upon arrival in Turkish territory through paid border guards, the cargo is distributed to the destination endpoints. Depending on the direction, the most optimal delivery method is chosen. In most cases, this is maritime transport due to its invisibility.
And from Turkish ports, opiates are exported to consumers in Europe through the Balkan states and to the countries of North and Latin America.
Drug smuggling through Turkish ports gives Turkey political leverage over other countries
A significant part of the supplied narcotic substances to world markets from Afghanistan goes through Turkish ports. Ports are a large cargo flow and, as a result, huge cash flows and significant amounts of bribes and a high level of crime. And in ports with transcontinental transportation, all this increases multiply, and it is almost impossible to stop this, since no one is simply interested in it.
This algorithm was laid down in past centuries. In the 1930s, gangsters actively fought for control of the ports, as most of the supply of smuggled weapons, alcohol and opiates went by sea. Whoever owned the sea owned everything.
Transnational groups use sea harbors in Turkey due to the volume of cargo turnover using transport and merchant ships and stealth during transportation. The process itself has long been debugged.
Port workers and security forces are bribed in advance. Almost every employee - from the lowest position to the highest - "is in care." All participants perform a strictly assigned role.
Turkey is completely tied to smuggling and illegal cargo traffic. And the eastern mentality inherent in the Turks also allows you to do everything, guided by the principle "you want - you don't want, but the goods will be delivered." And the desire to make relatively easy money outweighs all possible consequences.
To divert the eyes of the Coast Guard unit or the naval forces of the countries Europe , they conduct duty searches and detentions on ships and boats of small smugglers in order to create the appearance of struggle.
In addition to ports, Turkey geographically controls the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, which are among the main links between Europe and Asia.
The country became a kind of checkpoint before then being sent to Europe and North America. Flocking caravans from the East transit Turkey and head to their destinations.
One important role in the black market allows Turks to influence certain political and economic processes, especially in countries dependent on it. This successfully correlates with the current policy of the Turkish authorities to revive the Ottoman Empire, the Rybar channel wrote in December 2022.
Promoting its policies in the Balkans, supporting and financing the necessary paramilitary forces, strengthening influence on the African continent - all this became possible largely due to the control of transit.
Advantages of Large and Small Groupings to Transport Opiates
Since the days of camel caravans, the transportation of opiates has been carried out collectively, as it is safer and more cargo can be taken away. However, there were and are single or small groups. They are not able to take large volumes, but like large organizations they have their advantages. What's the difference?
Volumes of goods transported
Small groups and drug couriers are not able to transport a large amount of goods due to the limited number of people and the use of the difficult route.
In addition, the transportation of significant volumes of goods with drugs from Afghanistan abroad requires large financial costs for payments for passage through the territories of transit states, which can only be allowed by large organizations.
Need for protection
Smuggling opiates and their derivatives is a profitable but dangerous business that many want to profit from. This creates the need for armed escorts of caravans to protect them from looters and encroachments of representatives of security forces in the host countries.
Small groups or single couriers are more vulnerable in this regard, and cannot allow them to follow common routes using secret paths known only to local or smugglers themselves.
Expenses
The cost of transporting small cargo, subject to the export of high-quality products (not poppy straws), comes out much lower due to the lack of need for "kickbacks" and payments for transit.
Also, to transport large batches across the border, large-capacity cars are needed, for example, tankers (drugs are hidden in special compartments or cargo). Undercover caravan travel is only possible when border detachments, as well as corrupt officials, are "stimulated."
In the opposite direction, large caravans can carry weapons to reimburse transportation costs, and small groups can carry medicines, electronics, and essential products.
Monopolized market
In each of the countries through which smuggling goes, drug trafficking is controlled by one or two large criminal organizations. They own and keep the whole "business" under their wing.
The transit of contraband of any type is subject to an established duty, and the attempt to transport goods without the knowledge of the leading movement is brutally suppressed.
Time
The advantage in the form of large volumes of transportation is to some extent offset by the time spent on organizing the delivery. Small couriers are more maneuverable, use well-trodden paths and perform the task much faster.
Delivery of precursors
Small smugglers are unable to provide Afghan producers with the chemicals they need to recycle opium into heroin because of Afghanistan's lack of industrial capacity.
Sufficient volumes of chemicals can only be provided by the use of railway and roads with a legal crossing of the checkpoint. This implies the presence of customs or border guards on "security" or with the help of false accompanying documents.
Self-discipline
Smugglers are obliged to act strictly according to the indicated plan, guided only by established instructions and avoiding unnecessary attention from ordinary people.
And small drug couriers are motley in composition, and some act in accordance with their interests, in most cases "dirty," neglecting basic security measures.
2019: Drug transport routes through Turkey and Africa
See also
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