A study of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Mexican government revealed that up to 28,100 hectares of poppy are cultivated in eight states of Mexico.
According to the report, the areas under opium poppy cultivation are mostly located in the mountainous areas of the western part of the country, in Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Durango, Michoacán, Jalisco and Nayarit as well as in the mountain range known as Sierra Madre Sur in Guerrero and Oaxaca.
The study added that the calculations were based on the satellite and aerial photographs taken from July 2014 to June 2015. During the same period the government of Mexico reported having destroyed 24,729 hectares of poppy plantations.
Antonio Mazzitelli, regional representative of the UNODC, said that Afghanistan is the first poppy producer in the world followed by Myanmar, and that Mexico is probably the third largest producer.