As more of the blame for the world’s exacerbating opiate overdose crisis is now being rightly put on the pharmaceutical industry, the dark side of this epidemic in the fact that the production of opium containing poppies has exploded since the military occupation of Afghanistan beginning in 2001.

According to Russian diplomat Sergey Lavrov, there are signs of collusion between NATO and drug producers and traffickers working to flood the world with opium. Remarking on how the mission to rid Afghanistan of terrorists quickly became distorted after the invasion, ultimately creating a never-ending supply of drugs to the West.

“During their operation in Afghanistan, the terrorist threat has not been rooted out, while the drug threat has increased many times over. The drug industry prospered. There is factual evidence that some of the NATO contingents in Afghanistan turned a blind eye to the illegal drug trafficking, even if they were not directly involved in these criminal schemes.” ~Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister

So, what exactly is the evidence? In a 2014 report, the UN notes that poppy production had reached an all time global high, with shocking increases in heroin users worldwide.

“The amount of land used for cultivating opium poppies around the world is at an all-time high, says a UN report. Afghanistan is largely behind the increase, with its crop growing by 36 percent over a year, producing 80 percent of the world’s opium.

A World Drug Report released by the UN’s Vienna-based Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has charted the global use of drugs. Although it says that global drug use is “stable,” it notes that the cultivation of opium has grown drastically.” [Source] As noted by TDC: “When the Untied Nations produces a report that reads like a corporate stock prospectus you know something is fishy. The UN report was very detailed about the number of new addicts, the flow of drugs out of Afghanistan and the final destination.” [Source] In short, if a NATO country is overseeing the security and military occupation of Afghanistan, and suddenly poppy production explodes, then at the very least NATO is permissive of the cultivation and exportation of the world’s deadliest and most addictive street drug. Furthermore, as noted by Lavrov, there is a strategy of managed chaos in play at present in the Middle East and northern Africa, disrupting and ruining the lives of millions of people, for the benefit of America and those in positions to temporarily profit from unfettered access to the natural resources of targeted nations.

“The concept of managed chaos appeared long ago as a method of strengthening US influence. Its basic premise is that managed chaos projects should be launched away from the United States in regions that are crucial for global economic and financial development.” ~Sergey Lavrov

Lavrov’s comments on the opium crisis and managed chaos are included in the following video. Via Waking Times Featured Image: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland/Flickr)