The situation with drug trafficking in Afghanistan leaves much to be desired, with the country remaining the largest producer of drugs, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Yuri Fedotov told Sputnik
VIENNA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th May, 2019) The situation with drug trafficking in Afghanistan leaves much to be desired, with the country remaining the largest producer of drugs, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Yuri Fedotov told Sputnik.
According to Fedotov, despite potential opium and heroin production being adversely effected by the decrease of this year's crop area, this was the result of a severe drought that hit Afghanistan and damaged all crops, including opium poppy.
"Afghanistan is still the largest producer of opiates, opium, heroin worldwide � about 90 percent � and this is a serious problem challenging the international community. Our office, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, provides assistance to the states of the region neighboring Afghanistan in combating the illegal trafficking of drugs, produced in Afghanistan. I mean Central Asia, [specifically] Kazakhstan, Iran, Pakistan," Fedotov noted.
According to UNODC, the estimated farm-gate value of opium production amounted to $1.39 billion in 2017, which comes out to roughly 7 percent of Afghanistan's estimated GDP.
