According to the Counternarcotics Minister of Afghanistan, the Taliban earned at least $155 Million from poppy cultivation and the opium trade in 2012.
The Government of Afghanistan reported that 102 police officers, soldiers and civilians were killed from attacks by poppy farmers and the Taliban during eradication efforts throughout the year. An additional 127 people were injured during the eradication efforts.
Along with the Taliban, opium farmers in Afghanistan are invested in to the drug smuggling industry. According to reports, a farmer can earn up to $120 per hectare when growing wheat in Afghanistan. If that farmer were to plant poppy seeds and harvest opium, that same hectare of land can result up to $10,000 a year.
Source: Alissa J. Rubin, “Opium Cultivation Rose This Year in Afghanistan, U.N. Survey Shows,” New York Times, November 20, 2012.
via Havocscope: Taliban Earnings from Poppy Cultivation in 2012.