Over 100 arrested in Afghanistan for defying Taliban's poppy ban

Taliban banned poppy production in 2022 across Afghanistan, which at the time was the world's top-producing country

More than 100 people have been arrested for growing poppy in northeastern Afghanistan, police said on Sunday, in an area that has previously resisted a Taliban government ban on the crop.

The Taliban authorities, on the orders of its Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, banned poppy production in 2022 across Afghanistan – which at the time was the world’s top-producing country.

“During an operation today, the forces of the department arrested more than a hundred people, including residents of various villages… while cultivating poppy,” Shafiqullah Hafizi, the director of the police’s counter-narcotics department in the province of Badakhshan.

“These people were introduced to the primary court of Badakhshan province along with their files so that a legal trial could be held against them.”

The ban sparked a 95 percent drop in poppy harvests in 2023, but farmers were hit hard financially and have not been able to reap the same profits from alternative crops.

In November, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) however reported a rise of 19 percent in production year-on-year.

It caused a shift in the centre of poppy cultivation in the country, from the southern strongholds of the Taliban authorities to northeastern provinces, including Badakhshan.

Taliban authorities, which have intensified a crackdown on production, in May faced a rare uprising in villages in Badakhsan province.

Clashes between farmers and brigades sent to destroy their poppy fields resulted in several deaths in the province.

Up to 80 percent of the population depends on agriculture in Afghanistan, one of the poorest countries in the world.

“The high prices and dwindling opium stocks may encourage farmers to flout the ban, particularly in areas outside of traditional cultivation centres, including neighbouring countries,” the UNODC said in its November report.

The UNODC and the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) called for international support for farmers to transition to alternative crops and livelihoods, something the Taliban government has requested.

Following the poppy ban, prices soared for the resin from which opium and heroin are made but have since stabilised to around $730 per kilogram, (two pounds) according to the UNODC, compared to about $100 per kilo before 2022.

Myanmar, racked by conflict between the military and various armed groups opposed to its rule, is now the world’s largest producer of opium.