The Global SMART Updates (GSU) are biannual publications of the UNODC Global Synthetics Monitoring: Analyses, Reporting and Trends (SMART) Programme, implemented by the UNODC Laboratory and Scientific Service.

In Afghanistan, clandestine methamphetamine manufacture has emerged, supplementing the opiate economy and contributing to the global expansion of the illicit synthetic drug market. Apart from the manufacture of crystalline methamphetamine, an illicit market for synthetic drug tablets has developed in the country. Based on forensic analysis of over 500 samples in tablet form, this Global SMART Update sheds light on a drug product sold under the street name of ‘tablet K’ in Afghanistan. Three different types of ‘tablet K’ were identified based on their content: a methamphetamine type, a type containing methamphetamine as well as opioids and a type containing mainly MDMA. The presence of an illicit drug product in tablet form that contains both methamphetamine and opioids has implications for the understanding of drug use and supply in Afghanistan and beyond.