UNODC executive director Yury Fedotov said Afghanistan, which produces 90% of the world’s opium, has only seen modest success in the eradication of poppy fields.
Afghanisthan president Hamid Karzai responded by saying that Afghans get the blame while others get the benefit, and it was not possible for Afghanistan to tackle the problem on its own.
The UNODC reported that Afghan’s opium production had increased by 7% over the previous year, and the price of farm-grade opium increased by 133% compared with 2010 figures.
Fedotov said that UNODC will be spending $117m over the next three years on its counternarcotics program in Afghanistan which produces around 90% of the world’s illegal opium crops, used to manufacture heroin.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon has urged Afghanistan to make fighting drug trafficking a top priority.
The official statistics indicated that the large amounts of illicit drugs are produced in five provinces, namely Badghis, Farah, Helmand, Kandahar, and Uruzgan, which are also the most insecure regions of Afghanistan.