The observation was about the government, not necessarily opium.
The government does not seem to control the countryside to an significant degree, or this activity presumably wouldn't be going to this extent. That was foretold by anyone and everyone who knew anything about the country.
Therefore it seems to reinforce the notion that the Karzai regime is an American creation without broad support and whose influence is limited mostly to a few cities where it's propped up with foreign soldiers.
Arf
(DRUMS OF WAR DEPT.: Part of the Bush propaganda was that the Taliban was using opium to finance terrorist activities. But that's another issue.)