The United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has revealed that enough Afghan opium to supply world demand for two years has effectively gone missing, with the Taliban suspected of stockpiling supplies in a bid to corner the market.

Afghanistan is the world’s leading narcotics supplier. A UN study revealed earlier this month that Afghanistan’s opium production had dropped dramatically this year partly because of new aggressive drug-fighting tactics in the country.

Production dipped by 10 percent this year while cultivation fell by 22 percent, according to the UNODC report.

However, this positive news should be treated with caution, a senior UN spokesman warned.

Walter Kemp of the UNODC said, “We figure the world needs around 4,000 tons of opium a year for licit and illicit purposes.”

He added, “But this year around 6,900 tons was produced, with 7,700 tons delivered last year and more than 8,500 the year before that. So if the world only needs around 4,000 tons of opium and a further 1,000 is seized, where is the rest of it going?”

(via CNN)