101 East

Afghanistan’s Billion Dollar Drug War

Afghan authorities are struggling to control the resurgence in poppy farming that feeds the habits of addicts worldwide.

Afghanistan's Billion Dollar Drug War won a gold medal for best investigative report and a gold medal for the human concerns category. Steve Chao won his second consecutive gold medal as best reporter/correspondent for this documentary.
Afghanistan’s Billion Dollar Drug War won a gold medal for best investigative report and a gold medal for the human concerns category. Steve Chao won his second consecutive gold medal as best reporter/correspondent for this documentary.

It is the frontline of the war on drugs – and it is a battle authorities are losing.

Afghanistan’s poppy fields, which feed the habits of drug addicts worldwide, are thriving, with cultivation of the crop hitting record highs last year.

With NATO troops pulling out and local law enforcement agencies ill-equipped and underfunded, production looks set to increase even further.

The number of Afghan addicts is soaring, and with the Taliban funded by the drug trade, security fears are paramount.

101 East travels to Afghanistan’s poppy fields to investigate how Afghan authorities are struggling to control the resurgence in poppy farming, the implications for the global war on drugs, and what the future holds for this fragile nation.

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