[Breitbart] nullThe unprecedented U.S.-led air campaign against the Taliban’s economic engine, opium and heroin, has destroyed 73 drug labs and deprived the narco-jihadist group of $42 million in proceeds since President Donald Trump authorized the operations in November.President Trump’s decision to expand the U.S. air campaign to target the Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
’s drug activities came amid the historic production of opium, the main ingredient in heroin.
Following a dramatic drop in counternarcotics activity authorized by former President Barack Obama
I inhaled. That was the point...
, the cultivation area and overall production of opium skyrocketed, providing the Taliban with more funding to continue waging its terror campaign as the U.S. troops withdrew from Afghanistan.
The dramatic increase in opium cultivation coincided with a Taliban resurgence.
According to the U.S. government, the Taliban generates at least 65 percent of its funding, estimated at $300 million to $500 million annually, from the production and smuggling of opium and heroin.