Role
Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan in 2025 decreased by 20 per cent compared to the previous year, The sharp contraction, together with market indicators, suggest that opium production and trafficking are undergoing major shifts in the region. At the same time, trafficking in synthetic drugs, especially methamphetamine, seems to have increased since the drug ban in Afghanistan, with seizure events in and around Afghanistan higher than before, indicating a growing risk of synthetic drug substitution as opiate production falls.