US Forces destroy 80 Million of Taliban Drug Money in Helmand

The United States military officials confirmed to Killid that a US-led coalition in Afghanistan destroyed 80 million USD in narcotics money as part of a campaign to target Taliban revenue streams.
Air Force Brig. Gen. Lance Bunch, chief of the Resolute Support Mission’s future operations division, told media that the campaign has eliminated 25 illegal drug-processing laboratories in Helmand province, denying 16 million USD of the 80 million USD in destroyed funds that was set to be “direct revenue” to the drug lords’ Taliban partners.
Bunch said President Donald Trump’s new South Asia strategy, which granted the U.S.-led coalition new permissions to target the Taliban’s command-and-control nodes, illicit revenue-generating ventures, and logistical networks.
“This new air interdiction campaign directly strengthens the Afghan defense forces and their continued battlefield successes,” he said.
Bunch added the Taliban receives about 300 million USD to 400 million USD a year with about 200 million USD of it coming from the production of heroin and two raids of Taliban narcotics bazaars resulted in more than 2 tonnes of heroin and more than 5.5 tonnes of opium being seized.