Profits and poppy: Afghanistan's illegal drug trade a boon for Taliban

FILE PHOTO: An Afghan man works on a poppy field in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan April 20, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States spent more than $8 billion over 15 years on efforts to deprive the Taliban of their profits from Afghanistan's opium and heroin trade, from poppy eradication to airstrikes and raids on suspected labs.

That strategy failed.