Afghan police destroy 88 acres of poppy in Kandahar

Authorities step up enforcement of nationwide opium ban with arrests, field destruction in southern provinces.

KABUL, Afghanistan (MNTV) — Authorities in southern Afghanistan have ramped up their efforts to eliminate narcotics production, destroying more than 88 acres of poppy fields and arresting a dozen individuals involved in the drug trade, police said on Tuesday.

The campaign is part of a broader nationwide push by the Taliban-led government to implement its sweeping ban on opium cultivation, first announced in April 2022.

Provincial police spokesperson Assadullah Jamshid said the latest operation targeted poppy and hashish farms across parts of Kandahar province, a region historically known for illicit crop cultivation.

In a separate incident a few days earlier, police intercepted an attempt to smuggle 15 kilograms of opium in neighboring Uruzgan province and arrested one individual.

The Taliban-led government has committed itself to eradicating narcotics production, which has long posed a major challenge to Afghanistan’s social fabric and economy.

Since returning to power, the authorities have emphasized the need to combat addiction, dismantle trafficking networks, and promote a healthier society.

Despite limited resources and ongoing economic sanctions, Afghan authorities have carried out numerous successful operations across the country.

Their actions have drawn recognition from some international observers who acknowledge the scale of the challenge and the government’s determination to tackle it.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), poppy cultivation in Afghanistan dropped by more than 90 percent in 2023 compared to the previous year — a result largely credited to the Taliban-led government’s enforcement of the cultivation ban.