Overview
- The covert effort ran from roughly 2004 to 2015 under the CIA’s Crime and Narcotics Center, according to the reporting.
- Specially bred, non-genetically modified seeds with lower alkaloid content were scattered at night, initially from British C-130 transport aircraft.
- The operation was so tightly held that some senior Pentagon and State Department officials were unaware of it, and officials declined to comment on the reports.
- Former officials said there was a feeling the approach worked at times, but the program was expensive, consumed the center’s budget, and lacked clear effectiveness metrics.
- UNODC now estimates Afghanistan’s 2025 opium output at about 296 tons—down 32% from last year and 95% below pre-ban levels—with falling prices pointing to possible cultivation shifts to neighboring countries.