CARICC reports an increase in opium smuggling in Central Asia

Despite the fact that the Taliban achieved 95% reduction in the area under poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, drug smuggling is growing in the region, which can be explained by the ongoing production of opium in this country. This was stated by the director of the Central Asian Regional Information Coordination Center for Combating Illicit Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Their Precursors (CARICC) Atageldy Yazlyev.

“According to the international experts, as a result of the Taliban’s ban on the cultivation of opium poppy, the area under this plant has decreased by 95%. At the same time, CARICC statistics indicate an increase in drug smuggling in the region, which may be due to the sale of opium or heroin reserves from the harvests previous years, or [this speaks] about the continuoued production of drugs in Afghanistan,” Yazlyev noted when speaking in the Mazhilis (Lower Chamber) of the Parliament of Kazakhstan.

Yazlyev noted that based on the results of nine months of 2023, the volume of seized drugs in the countries participating in CARICC increased by more than 100% in general compared to the data for the same period in 2022. Rambler reported this.

According to the head of CARICC, over the nine months the number of drug-related crimes increased by 8.3%, and the number of crimes related to the sale of narcotic drugs grew by 8.9%. In Russia, in particular, the increase in drug crimes was 8.8%, Yazlyev said.

In general, “the drug situation [in Central Asia] is characterized by an increase in the production of opiates and methamphetamine in Afghanistan, the emergence of new types of synthetic drugs and methods of their distribution,” Yazlyev said.

“These laboratories produce relatively cheap local amphetamine, displacing more expensive drugs from the market,” Yazlyev emphasized.

According to the UN, Afghanistan covers 80% of the world's opium demand.