Opium cultivation on the rise in Afghanistan

Opium cultivation in Afghanistan increased over the past year and the country is at risk of becoming a haven for drugs cartels and terrorists, the UN has warned.

The Vienna-based UN Office on Drugs and Crime warned that opium poppy cultivation is fanning out into areas it has never been seen in before.

High prices for opium have lured poor farmers away from conventional farming, spreading poppy cultivation to 28 of Afghanistan’s 32 provinces from 18 provinces four years ago.