According to a Senate Foreign Relations Committee Report, there are about 50 major drug traffickers in Afghanistan with significant links to the Taliban.

The Taliban is estimated by the CIA to generate up to $70 million a year from drug trafficking activities.

Source:  James Risen, “U.S. to Hunt Down Afghan Drug Lords Tied to Taliban,” New York Times, August9, 2009.

US Envoy to Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke stated that efforts by the United States to eradicate poppy production in the country did not achieve any positive gains.

From the AP (via NPR News):

“Eradication is a waste of money,” Holbrooke said on the sidelines of a Group of Eight foreign ministers’ meeting on Afghanistan, during which he briefed regional representatives on the new policy.

“It might destroy some acreage, but it didn’t reduce the amount of money the Taliban got by one dollar. It just helped the Taliban. So we’re going to phase out eradication,” he said.

The Taliban earned an estimated $50 million to $70 million in 2008 from trafficking opium.  Afghanistan is the source country for 93 percent of the world’s heroin.

Source:  Associated Press, “U.S. Announces Shift in Afghanistan Drug Policy,” NPR News, June 27, 2009.