GNV News　March 4, 2026

In Balochistan (Pakistan’s largest and westernmost province), drug cultivation and trafficking are increasing. Poppies are now widely cultivated and processed into opium and heroin. Drugs produced in the province are also smuggled onto international markets. According to reports, the drugs are transported to Gulf countries via Balochistan’s port towns along the Gulf of Oman, and these countries are considered lucrative destinations. There are also cases of smuggling to countries in East Africa, which serve as transit points for drugs bound for Europe and North America.

The Taliban’s ban on poppy cultivation in Afghanistan in 2022 has greatly influenced the increase in drug cultivation and trafficking in Balochistan. Afghanistan, Pakistan’s neighbor, was once the world’s largest producer of opium. Due to this ban, the area under poppy cultivation in Afghanistan fell by 95% in just one year, and opium production dropped from 6,200 tons in 2022 to 333 tons in 2023. As a result, many farmers who depended on poppy cultivation were forced to seek alternative livelihoods that were less profitable.

Consequently, many Afghan farmers migrated to neighboring Balochistan. According to a field study published in 2025 by the Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN), in some areas of southern Afghanistan, nearly half of the men in certain households migrated to Balochistan to cultivate poppies. The province’s dry climate, its location near the border, and its vast sparsely populated land enabled this migration and contributed to the increase in poppy cultivation in Balochistan. According to a report released by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in November 2024, the area under poppy cultivation in Pakistan increased by about 1,307% between 2020 and 2023, with most of this cultivation concentrated in Balochistan.

Not all drugs produced in Balochistan are exported; domestic consumption is also rising. In August 2025, members of the Balochistan provincial assembly warned that the increase in poppy cultivation and drug abuse was triggering a serious provincial crisis, estimating that around one million people in the province were struggling with addiction. This warning is backed by data showing that more than 7% of adults in Balochistan use some form of drugs, surpassing the national average of 5.8%.

To contain Balochistan’s drug crisis, the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) and other security agencies are working on enforcement. In 2025, it was reported that over 13,000 hectares of poppy cultivation were destroyed. In another operation, drugs worth millions of U.S. dollars were seized. However, the effectiveness of these efforts is constrained by corruption within the province. In 2024, 58 provincial security officials were suspended for involvement in drug trafficking, highlighting how corruption is undermining Balochistan’s anti-drug measures.

Learn more about Balochistan: “Pakistan’s Hidden Conflict: Balochistan”

Learn more about poppy cultivation in Afghanistan: “Afghanistan: Turmoil and Stability”

Makran Coastal Highway in Balochistan, Pakistan (Photo: Bilal Mirza / Wikimedia Commons [CC BY 2.0])