Iraqi forces burn ISIS poppy fields to curtail heroin and opium revenue
Representational photo
(IraqiNews.com) Salahuddin – On Wednesday Iraqi security forces burned a 16 thousand square meter field planted with opium poppies belonging to ISIS gangs near Sharqat district in Salahuddin province.
Iraqi media outlets explained that ISIS relies on the cultivation of opium poppies to finance part of its operations.
The terrorist group extracts heroin from this plant in the laboratories of Mosul University which has been under the group’s control since the middle of 2014.
Iraqi news websites revealed that most of those who supervise the cultivation of this plant hold Afghani nationalities.
ISIS seeks to fund its war in Iraq and Syria from different sources, without considering the religious principles it uses as slogans to attract poor, simple or uneducated people to the organization.
The opium poppy plant is used to extract different kinds of drugs including opium, heroin and morphine.
The plant that appears in different colors such as white, yellow, orange, red or pink grows cold regions where summer is short and blooms for a few days.
Afghanistan is famous for the cultivation of opium poppies. Around 90 percent of opium production in the world market is originated in Afghanistan. This is reflected in an export value worth over 4 billion US dollars.