VAN, Turkey — The paths of refugees and drug traffickers have crossed at the porous Iranian-Turkish border, the route of tens of thousands fleeing Afghanistan, with growing indications that refugees are being forced to carry drugs.

Turkey has seen an unprecedented influx of Afghan refugees since the Taliban took over Afghanistan last year amid the hasty US withdrawal, with Ankara often under fire for failing to prevent the illegal entries from Iran. The Afghans cross Pakistan and Iran to reach Turkey’s eastern border and are often joined by migrants from Pakistan and other Asian countries as they make their way across the mountainous frontier with the help of human traffickers. 

The same route has long been a major heroin-smuggling route from Afghanistan to Western Europe, running via Turkey and the Balkans. In 2018, nearly 60% of heroin seizures outside of Afghanistan took place on the so-called Balkan route, according to the Turkish police’s 2021 drug report. Nearly 14 tons of heroin were seized in Turkey in 2020. Bulky seizures of heroin and other narcotics such as methamphetamine are frequent in the eastern province of Van, which borders Iran.

There are growing claims and indications that drug traffickers have come to use refugees to carry smaller amounts of narcotics across the Iranian-Turkish border, apparently by making deals with human smugglers.