Afghanistan: Afghan Opium Production Reaches Record High

Oct 24, 2017 | Voice of America
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Afghanistan, the world’s largest producer of opium, has harvested a record crop this year that more than doubled last year’s production, a bad omen for fighting terrorism and organized crime, officials say. Salamt Azimi, the country’s minister for counter-narcotics, told VOA's Pashto service that insecurity kept the government from implementing poppy eradication programs, leading to a 64 percent jump in land dedicated to the lucrative crop to 340,000 hectares.