‘Rein in drug trade’

VIENNA: The world must help Afghanistan – the world’s biggest opium-producing country – and rein in its drug trade, the UN drug monitoring body has said.

In its annual report, the International Narcotics Control Board said the 750 hectares of Afghan poppy fields destroyed last year “is negligible” representing less than 0.25% of the country’s poppy acreage.

Last year, opium production increased by 87% to a record 9 000 tons. The Taliban control nearly all of the Afghan opium business. – dpa