A member of the newly trained Afghan National Police patrols through a poppy field in Mian Poshteh. The US Drug Enforcement Administration is beefing up its Afghan force to 81 special agents in 2010—up from just 13 three years ago. Counter-terrorism officials claim the Taliban are funding their insurgency through a taxation system that generates money from the production, processing and transport of opium from Afghanistan. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime says that between 2003 and 2008, the Taliban made an estimated $18 billion from drug production and trafficking.

Photo: IRIN