The Taliban announced on Sunday a ban on the cultivation of narcotics in Afghanistan, the world’s biggest opium producer.

“As per the decree of the supreme leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, all Afghans are informed that from now on, cultivation of poppy has been strictly prohibited across the country,” according to an order from the Taliban’s supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada.

“If anyone violates the decree, the crop will be destroyed immediately and the violator will be treated according to the Sharia law,” the order, announced at a news conference by the ministry of interior in Kabul, said.

The order said the production, use or transportation of other narcotics was also banned. Drug control has been one major demand of the international community of the Taliban.

Afghanistan’s opium production — which the United Nations estimated was worth $1.4 billion at its height in 2017 — has increased in recent months, farmers and Taliban members said. The country’s dire economic situation has prompted residents of southeastern provinces to grow the illicit crop that could bring them faster and higher returns than legal crops such as wheat.