CIA ran a secret operation to reduce opium production in Afghanistan for over a decade

The Washington Post has revealed that the CIA conducted a secret operation lasting more than ten years aimed at reducing Afghanistan’s opium production. According to the investigation, beginning in 2004, the agency dispersed billions of specially bred poppy seeds over the provinces of Nangarhar and Helmand. These plants produced opium poppies with nearly zero levels of alkaloids required for heroin production.

The operation was carried out under strict secrecy — even some senior officials at the Pentagon and the U.S. State Department were reportedly unaware of its existence. The seeds were not genetically modified but rather developed through selective breeding, designed to gradually weaken local varieties through cross-pollination. The goal was to have the new, low-alkaloid strains dominate within several growing seasons, thereby diminishing the potency and profitability of the Afghan drug trade.

Sources said the program continued until 2015 but its effectiveness remained questionable due to high costs and limited control. The CIA declined to comment on the details, while former U.S. officials admitted that even such technologically sophisticated efforts had only a limited impact on curbing the opium trade — which remained a key source of funding for the Taliban throughout the war.

Tags: Afghanistan