Crucial to this transformation was the Taliban’s ability to take advantage of the Afghan population’s grievances, which included the widespread perception of corruption within the previous government, the political alienation of the Pashtuns (the majority ethnic group in Afghanistan who were largely excluded from the central government), and the insecurity and violence associated with the presence. [...] Instead, these efforts, to formalize or enforce the prohibition of the previously illicit economies, have led to the control of the illicit commodities and the illicit financial flows associated with them being centralized in the hands of the Taliban. [...] Past examples have revealed flawed assumptions of prohibition and the negative consequences of efforts to eliminate the cultivation of illicit crops.71 Instead of curbing the trafficking of opium and heroin, enforcing the prohibition often causes a so-called ‘balloon effect’, displacing the production and trafficking of the illicit commodity to other localities, or prompting an increase in the pro. [...] In the past, reduced opium-poppy cultivation in parts of Afghanistan in response to the state or regime policy led to increased cultivation in other provinces, exemplified by the shift from Badakhshan and Balkh to Helmand and Kandahar.74 Given the reports of the continuous cultivation in Badakhshan since the 2022 ban,75 there is a need to closely monitor the potential increase of illicit opium-pop. [...] As of early 2023, the Taliban 12 were reportedly taxing shipments of methamphetamine, opium and heroin transiting Afghanistan’s border to Pakistan, based on the type of drug and the weight of the shipment.84 The announcement of the Taliban’s narcotics ban was followed by enhanced enforcement against the harvesting of ephedra and methamphetamine manufacture, resulting in the closure of over 700 met.
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- 27
- Published in
- Switzerland
