CIA secretly orchestrated operation to weaken Afghanistan opium production

A new report has revealed that America’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was involved in a major decade-long operation that weakened Afghanistan’s opium production.

The operation involved dispersing modified poppy seeds over the country’s vast fields, The Washington Post revealed this week.

The plan, which aimed to degrade the potency of Afghanistan's billion-dollar opium crop, took place between 2004 and 2015.

Opium is a key source of income and livelihood for much of Afghanistan and is a billion-dollar industry. Afghanistan has historically produced opium, accounting for 80 percent of the amount across the world. Heroin made from Afghan opium also made up 95 percent of the market in Europe.  

The report cites 14 individuals who were familiar with the operation, and states that the CIA dropped specially developed poppy seeds that eventually produced plants containing almost none of the chemicals that are used to make heroin.

The airdrops targeted the provinces of Nangarhar and Helmand, areas known for their opium production.

The poppy seeds were reportedly dropped using British C-130 aircraft, with the CIA’s Crime and Narcotics Centre behind the operation.

Former officials said the project, which was authorised by then President George W.Bush and continued into the Obama administration, was "tremendously expensive". The officials further noted that the results from it were mixed.

Last month, various reports stated that opium farming in Afghanistan dropped sharply following a ban imposed by the Taliban government in 2022.

Data shows that the total area of land for growing opium poppy has shrunk by 20 percent since last year, while the amount of opium has also fallen by over 32 percent in the same period.

In April 2022, the Taliban banned the production of opium, saying it was harmful. Without it, many farmers struggle to make a livelihood, and in some areas the ban on it has sparked violent resistance, with farmers decrying the lack of income from growing other crops.