The United Nations is reporting that cultivation of opium in Afghanistan has slightly decreased in 2008. From BBC News: The area of poppy production in Afghanistan and the yield of opium from these crops have reduced this year compared with 2007, a UN report says. It says more than half of the country’s 34 provinces are now poppy-free [...]

Organized Crime groups in Australia are increasingly trading in pirated movies instead of heroin due to the huge profit margins. From The Daily Telegraph (via news.com.au): ORGANISED crime syndicates including bikie gangs have moved into DVD and internet piracy, with some channelling millions of dollars in illicit profits into drug dealing ventures. They are making their money off [...]

In a early release of the Sunday New York Times Magazine, former Bush Administration Official Thomas Schweich writes that the highest levels of the Afghan Government is allowing the drug trade to flourish. From the BBC News article on the report: Afghan President Hamid Karzai is obstructing efforts to tackle his country’s drugs problem, says a former [...]

An increase in heroin trafficking into the United Kingdom is creating problems for law enforcement. From The Times: The agency leading Britain’s fight against organised crime is struggling to cope with the soaring scale of heroin trafficking, it admitted yesterday. The Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) claimed it was making headway in tackling fraud, gun-running and the cocaine [...]

According to the United States Department of State, the export value of Afghanistan’s 2006 opium export was $3.1 billion. Source: 2007 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, “Southwest Asia: Afghanistan,” United States Department of State, March 2007.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates the total value of the global opium and heroin market to be valued at $64.82 billion. Number of heroin users worldwide: 11.1 million. Source: United Nations, ” 2005 World Drug Report,” Office on Drugs and Crime, June 2005, pg. 132.

Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, “Illicit Drug Trends in the Russian Federation,” April 2008. 

28.7 percent of opium farmers claimed poverty alleviation as the reason for growing opium in Afghanistan.  Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, “Illicit Drug Trends in Afghanistan,” April 2008. 

4 percent of the population, or 920,000 people, are estimated drug users in Afghanistan. Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, “Illicit Drug Trends in Afghanistan,” April 2008.

Opium poppy cultivation has increased on average by 34 percent every year since the Taliban was disposed of in 2001. Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, “Illicit Drug Trends in Afghanistan,” April 2008.