Voices of the Quchaqbar: Understanding opiate trafficking in Afghanistan from the perspective of drug traffickers

This qualitative study is based on in-depth interviews conducted with 41 Afghan opiate traffickers – or Quchaqbar in Dari - who are directly involved in the trafficking of opiates in Afghanistan and abroad, and who are, mostly still active in the business. Thirty-six of the interviewed Quchaqbar were operating freely in Afghanistan and had not been arrested or convicted, while five were under arrest or in detention at the time of writing but had not been convicted.