Afghan heroin production soars as foreign troops pull-out, says UN

Opium cultivation is at a higher level than under Taliban rule, figures show

Production of the heroin raw material is expected to rise for the third year

Afghanistan produces about 90 per cent of the world's illicit opium



The production of opium in Helmand has tripled since British troops arrived in the Afghan province in 2006, according a devastating report published today by the United Nations.

According to the report more than 75,000 hectares of Helmand were given over to opium cultivation last year, up from just 25,500 hectares in 2005.

The embarrassing figures show that opium cultivation is at a higher level than during Taliban rule, and production is expected to increase for the third year in a row.

A British soldier patrols a poppy field in Helmand: New figures released by the UK show that production of the raw material for heroin has tripled in the years British forces have been fighting in Helmand province

High prices for opium, from which heroin is made, is encouraging farmers to grow poppies, according to the UN's Afghanistan Opium Risk Assessment 2013 report.

Afghanistan supplies about 90 per cent of the world's illicit opium and the proceeds are believed to help fuel the war against the U.S.-led forces who ousted the Taliban in 2001.

'The prices are still quite high. That is a very clear economic incentive,' Martin Raithelhuber of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) told Reuters.

'We can't deny the fact that the level of cultivation now is much higher than it has ever been under the Taliban.'

The total area used to grow poppies last year was 154,000 hectares, said Mr Raithelhuber. While the area is expanding, it was unclear if it would reach the record of 193,000 hectares set in 2007.

The UNODC report, prepared together with Afghanistan's Ministry of Counter Narcotics, said there was a link between insecurity, lack of agricultural aid, and opium farming.

Villages with poor security and those which had not received agricultural help were much more likely to grow poppies in 2013 than others, it said.

Embarrassing: This map from the UN report shows that Helmand is the only Afghan province where levels of opium cultivation are expected to be 'very high' in 2013

Twelve provinces were forecast to show a rise in opium cultivation this year, according to the report.

They included the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand - strongholds insurgency where British forces have fought fierce battles with the Taliban.

This would follow a low yield last year caused by poppy disease and bad weather.

Although lower than in 2010 and 2011, opium prices are still much higher than in 2005-09 'making opium cultivation financially very attractive for farmers,' the report said.

Three provinces - Balkh, Faryab and Takhar - may lose their poppy-free status unless effective eradication took place.

Cultivation was forecast to decline in one province, Herat, and no major changes were foreseen in seven, including Kabul.

With foreign combat forces leaving in less than two years, and with much of their cash and air power expected to go with them, the Afghan government will need more help fighting poppy cultivation, experts say.

The UNODC in 2011 estimated the opium trade may have earned the Taliban $700million (£460million), up from $200million (£130million) a year in the previous decade, with traffickers earning billions more.

