The gum that produces opium is found in the large bulbs. (Image credit: Sonja C/Shutterstock) Editor's Note: This story was updated at 11:20 a.m. E.T. on Tuesday June 13.

A poppy bulb oozes opium paste in a field in Badakhshan Province. To harvest opium, farmers score the bulbs and then wait for the sticky paste to dry before scraping it into containers.

Some poppy farmers in Afghanistan's biggest opium-producing region have started harvesting this year's crop early in hopes of finishing before the government moves to destroy their narcotic ...

The Afghan government, international aid groups and private businesses have been distributing saffron bulbs to farmers in what appears to be an increasingly successful effort to persuade them to ...

SIERRA MADRE DEL SUR, Mexico (AP) – Red and purple blossoms with fat, opium-filled bulbs blanket the remote creek sides and gorges of the Filo Mayor mountains in the southern state of Guerrero ...

Afghanistan's opium problem 20 photos. ... At harvest, collectors cut the bulb of the plant, allowing the raw opium to ooze out. This resin dries and is collected the following day.

Officers conducted a search warrant at a large poppy plant grow operation in Catawba County, N.C., on May 23. (Video: WSOC) By Cleve R. Wootson Jr. Cody Xiong cracked open his door, saw the ...

The poppies are grown by local farmers, who extract opium gum from bulbs and sell it to gangs such as the Sinaloa drug cartel, which transforms the raw material into heroin.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — For years, opium has been the monster too big to slay. One Afghan government after another has pledged to stamp out opium production and trafficking, only to prove unable ...

Police seize 4,018 kg of poppy bulbs used for manufacturing opium from a truck at Rampur under Namkum police station area. Truck driver arrested. Investigation ongoing.