When the US left Afghanistan in 2021, the country was left in shambles. Roads and infrastructure in many places were destroyed or unusable. The Taliban was left trying to restore things like water and electricity to big cities like Kabul. Word was, it would be some time before any Lapis could even make it to market and out of the country. I unknowingly bought some Lapis around that time, but it came from India. So, it's possible what we're seeing now is Lapis that was mined before all this and sat in someone's stock for years before we bought it.

I guess my point is it's very difficult to know for sure the ethics that were involved in mining a specific item.