Poppy cultivation at ‘zero’, says official

KABUL (TOLOnews): The Deputy Minister of Counter Narcotics, Abdul Haq Hamkar, said that poppy cultivation has “dropped to zero” in the country.
Speaking at a press conference, Abdul Haq Hamkar said that more than 78 acres of land have been cleared from poppy harvests over the last year and that more than 2,000 drug dealers have been arrested within the same period.
According to Hamkar, more than 48,000 drug-addicted people have been sent to hospitals for treatment.
“The harvest of poppy and hashish has been eliminated,” he said.
“The total number of the perpetrators, which includes the drug dealers and other individuals who were actively involved, is 2,095,” he added.
The officials of the department of counter-narcotics called the solar year 1401 crucial for countering the narcotics.
Earlier, the UN in a report estimated an increase in the production of narcotics in the initial months of the 1401 solar year—however, later on, the supreme leader of the Islamic Emirate, Mawlawi Hebatullah Akhundzada, in a decree ordered the nationwide ban on cultivation.