Afghan heroin business now under new management

Shiite fighters cover their ears as a rocket is launched during a clash with Islamic State militants in the town of al-AlamThaier al-Sudani. | Photo: Reuters

The Russian government warned that the extremist group is already making US$1 billion through heroin production and trafficking to finance more “terrorist attacks.”

Islamic State group is taking over production and trafficking of heroin and they plan to use the proceeds to finance more Paris-style attacks throughout the world, the Russian government warned, according to RT.

The Russian news outlet said Islamic State militants are already making an estimated US$1 billion a year from Afghan heroin. Experts and analysts have said that the Islamic State group plans to flood Europe with heroin and increase their heroin-related income to about US$50 billion per year.

“The terrorists are shifting attention to drug traffic following Russian airstrikes inflicting irreparable damage to oil infrastructure controlled by Islamic State,” Tom Keatinge, from the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), told the British Daily Star Online.

“This obviously makes ISIS profiting from this more likely and as other sources of income are squeezed, such as oil by strikes in Syria and Iraq, they will be looking for other sources of revenue,” Keatinge added using an acronym for the extremist group.

According to RT, the Islamic State group has in the past 12 months increased its presence and influence in Afghanistan with concerning intensity.

Keatinge told the Daily Star that based on opium routes in Afghanistan, “there is a lot of territory controlled by ISIS and therefore they will be making money out of it.” He added that, “ISIS is a group which makes money out of other people's endeavor.”

Russia's Federal Drug Control Service has estimated that the extremists are already raking in about US$1 billion a year through drug trafficking.

“The transit of heroin from Afghanistan though the Islamic State-controlled territory is huge financial sponsorship,” Viktor Ivanov, head of the Russian anti-narcotics agency said earlier this year.

The Russian official also warned that this year poppy plant harvesting will hit a historic record. “This problem should be raised not only in Moscow, but also in the U.N. in general, because this is a threat not only to our country, but also European security,” Ivanov emphasized.

Recently, the United Nations estimated that drug producers in Afghanistan are making about US$3.5 billion a year. They also estimated that the Afghan heroin market around the globe generates US$100 billion in profits.

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