An oasis stretched far into the desert, a vast sea of emerald stalks and scarlet poppy flowers that grew to the horizon.

       The Taliban operated openly, running a social experiment unlike anything in the country. Tens — then hundreds — of thousands of people flocked here to escape the war and grow poppy, fleeing the American efforts to wipe out the crop.

       The Taliban opened a trauma hospital to treat their wounded and earned a fortune, not just from opium, but also from methamphetamines and taxes on goods moving in and out of Afghanistan, bringing them millions upon millions of dollars every month.

       During the war, this remote district became a laboratory for a future Taliban state, providing money for the war and a sanctuary for the men fighting it.

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       All that has changed. The Taliban boom town is rapidly going bust.

       The same insurgents who embraced opium to help finance their war have put an end to it, ordering a ban that has all but cleared Afghanistan of poppy and other illicit drugs.

       What the United States and its allies failed to do in two decades of war, the Taliban has managed in two years of peace. In an area where poppy once dominated the landscape, barely a stalk remains.

       Map locates Bakwa, Afghanistan and the Helmand Province.

       UZBEK.

       TAJIK.

       TURKMENISTAN

       IRAN

       Kabul

       Herat

       AFGHANISTAN

       Bakwa

       Kandahar

       HELMAND

       PAKISTAN

       100 miles

       By The New York Times

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