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Tyee Photo Essay

Afghanistan's 'Poppy Problem'

6 Nov 2007, TheTyee.ca

  • Harvesting poppies for opium.

    Men harvest opium poppies in Afghanistan's Helmand province in April 2007. Photo: Safai.

  • Crowd

    Workers flock Helmand's capital, Lashkar Gah, from as far away as Pakistan to take part in the poppy harvest. Photo: Safai.

  • Vendor at poppy market

    A man sells tools used to collect opium paste from poppy bulbs. Photo: Safai.

  • Vendor at poppy market - 2

    A vendor sells tools to scrape poppy bulbs, allowing opium paste to ooze out to be collected later. Photo: Safai.

  • Harvesting poppies for opium

    Workers scrape poppy bulbs. Paste is visible on bulbs that have already been scraped. Photo: Safai.

  • Man smoking opium through water pipe.

    A man smokes opium through a homemade water pipe in Lashkar Gah. Photo: Safai.

  • Recovering opium addicts'

    Recovering opium addicts rest at a treatment centre in Lashkar Gah. Photo: Safai.

  • Opium raid in Afghanistan

    Police conduct a raid on an opium processing plant in Lashkar Gah in July 2007. Photo: Safai.

  • Arrested opium smugglers

    Opium smugglers are detained at police headquarters in Lashkar Gah. Photo: Safai.

  • Dump truck transporting seized opium.

    Police use a dump truck to transport seized opium to a site where it will be destroyed. Photo: Safai.

  • Oozing opium.

    Opium oozes out of bags dumped at the destruction site. Photo: Safai.

  • A burning bush of opium.

    Police burn confiscated opium. Photo: Safai.

  • Interviewing counter-narc dude in Afghanistan.

    IWPR reporter Elyas Dayee interviews Fazal Ahmad Shirzad, the head of counter-narcotics in Helmand. Photo: Safai.