Another record poppy crop in Afghanistan, already the source of 90 percent of the world’s heroin, threatens to exacerbate the drug problem in Russia and stoke tensions between President Vladimir Putin and the U.S.
As the biggest market for illicit opiates, Russia is in the front line as the U.S. withdraws its troops from Afghanistan after spending an estimated $7.6 billion in a failed attempt to curb narcotics production.
