VIDEO. Ephedra is a plant of choice for methamphetamine traffickers in Afghanistan.

It looks like a small bush. In Afghanistan, this plant, ephedra, is used to produce methamphetamine, a highly addictive nervous system drug well known to fans of the TV series Breaking Bad. “There are several types of ephedra in the world, and some, but not all, contain ephedrine, an alkaloid that can be used to make methamphetamine,” explains Alexander Söderholm, an analyst at the European Union Observatory on Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). ). This is the case with Afghan ephedra.

Known locally asOmanIt grows prolifically in the wild, especially at altitudes of 2,500m. Traditionally harvested for its medicinal properties or for warmth, it has become a “lucrative” way for traffickers to produce methamphetamine in the country, according to some experts. Until 2016-2017, “traffickers instead used over-the-counter drugs that they bought in large quantities from Pakistan and Iran” to produce methamphetamine, describes David Mansfield, an expert on drug trafficking in the region. With ephedra, “they realized they could cut the cost of production in half,” he emphasizes.

A UN Office on Drugs and Crime report published in September 2023 found that methamphetamine seizures in Afghanistan and neighboring countries increased almost 12-fold between 2017 and 2021, rising from 2.5 to 29.7 tons. But in its report, the agency examines the role of ephedra in the rise of methamphetamine trafficking in the country, and also points to the role of chemical and pharmaceutical precursors.

But according to David Mansfield, who criticizes the report’s findings, “the evidence we have suggests that ephedra remains the main source of methamphetamine production in Afghanistan (…) This does not mean that other methods cannot exist. While the scale of production in Afghanistan is difficult to estimate, the consultant says the “industry has been disrupted” by the Taliban’s return to power. According to Alexander Cederholm, it is too early to “say with certainty that methamphetamine production has continued to increase” since the Taliban took power.