Since the Afghanistan ban on poppy, opium cultivation has gone back with a major swing in Pakistan-and particularly in Balochistan. Drones and armed operations are in progress to tear apart poppy beds which analysts claim take up tens of thousands of hectares today, a level that has not been seen in decades.
More than 8,100 hectares were cultivated in two regions alone as shown by satellite-data. Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti threatened that the security and image of the province faces a threat due to the production of poppy. The government reports that drug networks, illicit incomes, and increased addiction is an emergency that drives the eradication.
