Afghanistan’s Opium Trade
In a report presented at the 2007 Australasian Drug Strategy Conference, the Australian Federal Police noted that ideal weather conditions and improved technology in Afghanistan saw opium poppy production there rise 17% last year, with a further 30% rise expected in 2008. Afghanistan is the world’s largest producer of opium, accounting for 93% of the world’s total. Experts warn that this is likely to result in an increased flow of high-grade heroin into Australia. The quantity of heroin imported into Australia has almost doubled in the past two years, jumping from 40kg in 2005-06 to around 70kg in 2006-07. (Of Substance: The National Magazine on Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs, January 2008, Volume 6, No 1: 3).
