Recently, illicit production and trafficking of methamphetamine has increased sharply in Afghanistan. The UN report says the process is seen as a growing threat.
Ghada Waly, Executive director of the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), claimed on his report:
“The surge in methamphetamine trafficking in Afghanistan and the region suggests a significant shift in the illicit drug market and demands our immediate attention.”
According to the report, suspected Afghan-origin seizures of methamphetamine have been reported from places as far away as the European Union, the Near and Middle East, South-east Asia and Eastern Africa. The drastic increase in methamphetamine seizures in Afghanistan and neighboring countries however, indicates that methamphetamine trafficking is expanding rapidly, changing illicit drug markets traditionally focused on the trafficking of opiates from Afghanistan.
The Taliban previously restricted poppy cultivation and the distribution and smuggling of heroin. This has led to a slowdown in heroin trafficking, but UNODC stressed that methamphetamine trafficking “has intensified since prohibition.”
Meth seizures in and around Afghanistan jumped 12-fold in the five years through 2021. Between 2019 and 2022, nearby countries such as Iran and Pakistan also reported increased seizures.
The UNODC said much of the meth from Afghanistan was made with pre-cursor ingredients such as those found in some cold and flu medication. Afghanistan is home to the ephedra plant, which can be used to make methamphetamine, but the UNODC said the quantities needed to produce the drug and the risk of unreliable crops meant that Afghanistan’s production did not depend on the plant alone. The UNODC said:
“Common cold medications and industrial-grade chemicals are more efficient and cost-effective for the manufacture of methamphetamine and thus pose a far bigger threat.”
Currently, Australian law enforcement is among the few agencies testing to see if methamphetamine they catch is derived from Afghan ephedra plants.
The UNODC also stated that seizures of methamphetamine have increased from some 2.5 tons in 2017 to 29.7 tons in 2021 in Afghanistan and neighboring countries, with an increasing share originating from Afghanistan.
According to the report, within Afghanistan, annual seizure totals rapidly rose from less than 100 kg in 2019 to nearly 2,700 kg in 2021, suggesting increased production.
UNODC stated that to better respond to emerging threats and trends, it is critical to strengthen the understanding of the scope and use of different primary inputs for illegal manufacture of methamphetamine in Afghanistan through more regular mapping and chemical signature analysis of seizures and licit flows of cold medicines and ephedrines, as well as monitoring ephedra plant harvesting and trading.
