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NPR News

Heroin, The Taliban And The 'Seeds Of Terror'

Gretchen Peters has covered Pakistan and Afghanistan for more than a decade.
Gretchen Peters has covered Pakistan and Afghanistan for more than a decade.

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Listen 26:04

Journalist Gretchen Peters spent five years traveling the border areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan to research and write her new book Seeds of Terror: How Heroin is Bankrolling the Taliban and al Qaeda.

Peters says that the rejuvenated Taliban gets 70 percent of its funds from opium, and that there is overwhelming circumstantial evidence of Osama bin Laden’s involvement in the drug trade.

Peters covered Pakistan and Afghanistan for more than a decade, first for The Associated Press and later as a reporter for ABC News.

Fresh Air guest host Dave Davies conducts this interview.

Copyright 2023 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.

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