DISINFO: Ukraine turned into a paradise for Afghan drug lords under Western watch
SUMMARY
Over the past decades, Ukraine has played the role of a drug trafficking hub, with illicit substances flowing to and from many regions - including Afghanistan, where ISIS and the Taliban still rely heavily on the drug business as a source of income. Under the West's watch, Ukraine has morphed into a gangsters' paradise with all sorts of illicit drugs passing through its territory and the domestic production and consumption of synthetic narcotics booming. The role of Ukraine as a transit point for extremists to Europe has also increased. Ukraine's role as a hub for ISIS terrorists could be closely connected with drug trafficking.
RESPONSE
The claim is false. Although Ukraine has issues with organized crime and drug trafficking, data does not support the allegation that it is an “Afghan drug lords paradise”. According to the Global Organised Crime Index, Afghan-produced heroin and synthetic drugs trafficking is a lower problem in Ukraine than in most European countries and stands in position 83 from 193 countries, a much better score than Russia, which is in position 37. Reports from Europol and other institutions suggest that Russia’s invasion has disrupted rather than reinforced Ukraine’s role as a trans-shipment point and storage site for these drugs.
Other allegations of this disinformation story are also highly dubious. Unlike in the past, after 2022, the Taliban have been engaged in what experts have called “the most successful counter-narcotics operation in history” against poppy production, leading to a 95% drop of cultivation in 2023. Likewise, opioids trade is not among the funding sources of the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIS branch in Afghanistan), an organisation that firmly opposes this traffic for ideological and religious reasons.
The main purpose of this unsubstantiated allegation seems to promote the idea that Ukraine is a hub for Islamic State extremists, contributing to the wider disinformation campaign launched by the Kremlin to baselessly blame Ukraine and the West for the Crocus City Hall terror attack in Moscow. See other examples, such as claims that Moscow has evidence of the connection between the Crocus City terrorists and Ukraine, that ISIS claiming responsibility for Moscow attack looks like a fake, that Ukraine’s top official confirmed its participation in the Moscow Crocus City terror attack, that the West is afraid of evidence proving Kyiv's involvement in the Moscow terrorist attack, or that the US and Israel created ISIS and now moved this pawn against Russia in Crocus City attack.