Borderlands: Satellite data shows 9,000 hectares of poppies in Balochistan
Afghan farmers are leasing land in Pakistan and Iran, driving a surge in opium cultivation that officials say is outpacing eradication efforts.
By Arjun Patel ·
Farmers in Pakistan’s Balochistan province are planting poppies on land previously used for fruit and grain, a shift driven by high demand and low risk. Satellite imagery from Alcis, a British firm, identified more than 9,000 hectares of poppy cultivation in the region. This area lies along the border with Afghanistan, where the Taliban banned illicit narcotics in 2022.
David Mansfield, a UK-based expert on the region’s drug trade, stated that the Taliban ban has pushed production across the border. He described the tri-border area involving Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan as a new center for global opium production. The expansion is concentrated in the Loralai and Killa Abdullah districts of Balochistan, which is Pakistan’s largest and poorest province.
Local officials acknowledge the crop but dispute its scale. Monawar Hussain, the chief administrative officer for Killa Abdullah, claimed cultivation declined after an eradication campaign last year. However, Alcis imagery from 2026 shows no clear evidence of that removal. Islamabad’s Interior Ministry and the provincial government did not respond to requests for comment, while the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime noted that data scarcity points to spillover effects.
Abdul Qahar Wadan, a former National Assembly member from Killa Abdullah, alleged that senior military officials and pro-government figures back the cultivation. He said they take commissions from growers. A local farmer who spoke anonymously added that growers pay bribes to authorities. He claimed that when media attention rises, growers plant poppies on barren land so officials can destroy the crop and publicize the effort.
Lala Jan Kakar, a resident of Killa Abdullah, said drought and flash floods have hurt traditional fruit farming. He noted that the income from poppies is much higher than from other crops. “It’s not possible to resist it anymore,” Kakar said. He explained that Afghan farmers from Kandahar and Helmand are crossing the border to lease land. They bring capital and expertise, investing millions of Pakistani rupees in solar-powered wells.
Many farmers doubled their cultivated land in 2026. Mansfield called this a stark indication that higher cultivation levels are expected in 2027. A similar pattern is occurring in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan province. Afghan farmers work there as tenants and sharecroppers, often using family ties to secure land. Some fields use drip irrigation, a costly investment that suggests growers expect little risk of eradication.
Iranian authorities have been preoccupied with the war against the United States and Israel since late February. This focus has left the 2026 crop largely untouched. Mansfield noted a shift from mixed farming to large-scale poppy monoculture. In Afghanistan, production is rebounding in Badakhshan Province, which accounts for roughly half of national output. Farmers there have defied the ban, and southwestern cultivation almost doubled between 2025 and 2026.
A recent Taliban directive bars home searches for poppy or opium without a court order. Mansfield warned that this concession may signal tolerance for cultivation beyond walled compounds. He predicted a dramatic rise in opium production in Afghanistan in 2027 if farmers interpret the rule as permission. Armed groups in the region now compete for tax revenues from this trade, linking drug production to ongoing border violence.
Source: RFE/RL
