In a recent publication by "The Washington Post," details of an operation conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Afghanistan over two decades have been revealed. The essence of the program was to disperse modified poppy seeds to weaken the production of heroin funded by the Taliban*, which controlled a significant portion of the world's supply of this drug.
From 2004 to 2015, the CIA carried out regular nighttime drops of billions of seeds from C-130 aircraft. These seeds were selected so that the plants grown from them would have minimal alkaloid content, necessary for the production of heroin. It was expected that the new varieties would crossbreed with local ones and gradually displace them, becoming predominant in the region.
Despite the innovative approach, the program failed. According to sources close to the project, this occurred due to a number of reasons: administrative conflicts in Washington, disagreements between the U.S. and its allies, unstable support for Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his government, as well as a deep-rooted tradition of poppy cultivation in rural areas.
Additionally, the Pentagon has repeatedly expressed objections to this initiative, believing that it diverts resources from the primary task of combating Islamist terrorists and the Taliban.
Many details of this operation remain classified, including the size of the allocated budget, the number of flights conducted, and the actual effectiveness of the program.
In the 2018 report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), which was prepared without accounting for this secret program, it is concluded that none of the anti-narcotics initiatives implemented by the U.S., its allies, or the Afghan government led to a stable reduction in poppy cultivation and opium production.
Source: Fergana
