"In 2021, global research by the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) observed that illicit trade in the region is fueling political instability as it funds corruption, insurgency, and the trafficking of illegal weapons."

CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler writes: "As Afghanistan’s illicit drug trade flows globally, the international community needs to get serious about this threat not only as a matter of public health but also as counter-terrorism financing. Heroin and increasingly the more lucrative methamphetamine bleed through transport routes, making their way to Brussels, Berlin, and other European cities by way of Iran, Turkey and the Balkan states, via Central Asia as well as the Indian Ocean and East Africa. Meanwhile, the Taliban is funnelling these profits into a war chest it can put towards further violence and extremism."