30 percent of the heroin that is produced in Afghanistan is estimated to be smuggled through Tajikistan on its way to drug markets in Russia and Europe, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. In 2009, up to 90 metric tons of heroin was estimated to be smuggled through Tajikistan.
Between 2005 and 2010, the area of opium cultivation in Afghanistan increased by 18 percent. During that same time period, the amount of heroin seized in Tajikistan by law enforcement dropped by 58 percent.
Source: David Trilling, “Tajikistan: On Afghanistan’s Heroin Highway, Corruption Fuels Addiction and HIV,” Eurasia.net, April 9, 2012.
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