this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2023
222 points (72.9% liked)

World News

31895 readers
389 users here now

News from around the world!

Rules:

founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 51 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The source for that claim is entirely from the US state department. Not to mention some expert disputed that claim

"The estimated all-time high for opium production was set in 2017 at 9,900 tons worth some $1.4 billion in sales by farmers or roughly 7% of Afghanistan's GDP, the UNODC reported."

"Mansfield says his field studies show the most the Taliban can earn from illicit opiates is about $40 million annually"

So the Taliban made at most 40 million per year while the entire country (under US occupation and control) made over 1 billion per year