I think the Talis paid him tons of cash and he got his buddies, the muslim bros. in Qatar to broker the deal. They got all of that poppy money plus BO promised not to intercept their shipments. Look for some unexplainable executive orders in the near future!
Of course - with THIS administration, absolutely NOTHING is unthinkable or impossible.
In the American Thinker today it was postulated that the Taliban demanded as part of the deal that the CIA Station Chief be outed.