Multiple harvests drive Afghan opium boom

  • 7 years ago
With jingling poppy seeds hidden in his pouch, Helmand farmer Nematullah sidles out of Taliban territory to explain how he struck gold —- two additional opium harvests a year, which could further roil Afghanistan's conflict. Afghanistan has all the trappings of a narco-state, with opium production —- the lifeblood of the Taliban insurgency -— from the traditional spring harvest alone soaring to one of the highest levels in years.

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