CIA’s Secret Mission in Afghanistan: Failed Opium Gene-Editing Project Exposed

DID Press: Washington Post has revealed that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) ran a covert program for more than a decade aimed at weakening opium production in Afghanistan — a mission that involved secretly dispersing billions of genetically modified poppy seeds from the air. The operation ultimately ended with inconclusive and controversial results.

According to the report, fourteen sources familiar with the matter confirmed, on condition of anonymity, that between 2004 and around 2015, the CIA conducted secret operations in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar and Helmand provinces. The goal was to gradually replace native poppy varieties with a genetically altered, low-alkaloid strain to reduce the country’s raw material supply for heroin production.

Military aircraft reportedly dropped billions of seeds at night during planting season to prevent local farmers from realizing foreign interference. The modified plants were said to produce more visually striking flowers but significantly lower morphine content.

Despite its high costs and secrecy, the program had little measurable impact on opium yields. Some former CIA officials told the Post that while the project initially showed promise, it later failed and was quietly halted due to budget pressures.

The U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) was never granted access to the mission and has repeatedly noted in its reports that no American program succeeded in sustainably reducing poppy cultivation in Afghanistan.

The new revelations have reignited ethical and legal debates over covert agricultural interventions and their long-term social and economic consequences for rural Afghan communities.