The Administrative Office of the Islamic Emirate said in a statement that the Prime Minister appointed a committee to explore a joint effort to fight narcotics trafficking.
According to the statement, the Administrative Office of the Islamic Emirate, the Ministries of Communication and Information Technology, Economy and Justice have been given the task of reviewing the coordinated strategy against narcotics.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economy said that this committee will report its results to the Prime Minister.
“The appointed committee has been tasked with thoroughly analyzing the procedure for combatting drug trafficking and presenting its results to the Prime Minister,” said Abdul Rahman Habib, the spokesman for the Ministry of Economy.
However, the counter-narcotics department of the Interior Ministry said that in the past year, more than 2,400 people have been arrested on charges of drug trafficking.
“Up to today, almost 2,200 operations have been carried out by the divisions of this department, and nearly 2,450 major and small-time smugglers have been arrested,” said Hasibullah Ahmadi, head of the department.
“The system of trading, manufacture, and transport of drugs is illegal, it has no transparency, and it is difficult to eliminate it. This team … should stop the nation from consuming narcotics,” said Toryalai Zazai, political analyst.
Afghanistan’s poppy cultivation reportedly increased by 32%, according to the United Nations’ latest report.
Meanwhile, days after the announcement of an overall ban on the cultivation of poppy by the Islamic Emirate, the farmers in the southern provinces — a main supply area — said the price of crops have doubled.
Earlier, the Islamic Emirate’s supreme leader in a decree banned the cultivation of any kind of plants used for narcotics in the country.
The farmers said that the announcement of the ban on poppy cultivation caused a significant spike in the price of the product.
Niaz Mohammad, a farmer in Kandahar province, said that he cultivated poppy plants on 250 acres of land, where dozens of people are working on the farms.
“Until our government stops us from cultivating it, we will not stop cultivating poppy. We don’t care about the westerners,” said Niaz Mohammad, a farmer.
“It is a good business. A lot of people are working on the farms,” said Zarqawi, a worker.
There are children who are working on the farms.
“I collect the opium and then sell it. When I collect a couple of pounds. I take my share and sell it,” said Waras Ahmad, 10, who was working on the poppy farms.
However, the farmers called on the Islamic Emirate to provide them with support.
“There is drought. We have not had good products this year. This is our product. We don’t have anything else to produce,” said Lal Mohammad, a farmer.
Based on the Islamic Emirate’s leader’s decree, the usage and trafficking of drugs and alcohol has been banned across the country.
