Taliban Poppy Ban Pushes Afghan Opium Cultivation Into Pakistan and Iran

Satellite imagery and interviews with farmers show poppy cultivation moving across Afghanistan's borders into Pakistan and Iran after the Taliban imposed a wide-ranging ban on illicit narcotics in 2022. Afghanistan's opium output, once the largest in the world, has fallen sharply since that ban took effect, but cultivation has not stopped.

Analysis by the British firm Alcis, paired with farmer interviews, identified more than 9,000 hectares of poppy cultivation in Balochistan alone, according to David Mansfield, a UK-based expert on Afghanistan's illicit drugs industry. Most of that area lies in the Loralai and Killa Abdullah districts. Mansfield, who wrote an August report for the firm, said the remote borderlands of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran have become "a global center for opium production."

Pakistan's government has denied reports of opium cultivation and says any poppy crops found have been destroyed. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has estimated that opium production in Pakistan remains marginal, though the agency noted that scarce regional data and rising eradication figures point toward "a certain degree of spillover effects." Alcis imagery from 2026 shows no clear evidence of eradication in Killa Abdullah, despite a district official's account that cultivation declined after a campaign last year.

Afghan farmers from Kandahar and Helmand have crossed the border to lease land in Balochistan, bringing money and expertise. Lala Jan Kakar, a Killa Abdullah resident, said these growers invest millions of Pakistani rupees in solar-powered wells and share profits with landowners. He said insecurity, drought and flash floods have damaged traditional fruit farming, adding, "It's not possible to resist it anymore. The demand for poppies is much more than fruits, and so is the income."

A similar pattern has emerged in Iran, where Afghan farmers work as tenants and sharecroppers. Cultivation has been reported in Razavi Khorasan, Kermanshah, Lorestan and Fars provinces, though Sistan-Baluchistan remains the main producing region. Satellite imagery from 2026 appears to show extensive poppy fields there, some using drip irrigation, a costly setup that suggests growers who planted in late 2025 expected little risk of eradication. Iranian authorities, occupied with the war against the United States and Israel since late February, have not destroyed the 2026 crop.

Opium cultivation is also rebounding inside Afghanistan. Production is concentrated in northeastern Badakhshan Province, which accounts for around half of national output, and several southwestern provinces. Mansfield said southwestern cultivation almost doubled between 2025 and 2026, though it stayed limited and was concealed within wheat fields and behind compound walls. A Taliban directive barring home searches for poppy or opium without a court order appears to be a concession tied to the economic crisis, but Mansfield warned that farmers may read it as a sign authorities will tolerate cultivation beyond walled compounds.

Armed groups compete for tax revenues from the drugs trade and other cross-border activities, including people smuggling and trade in fuel, minerals and other goods, Mansfield said.