Kabul, March 4 (IANS) Afghan police have discovered a huge quantity of illicit drugs and apprehended two alleged drug smugglers in north Afghanistan’s Takhar province Monday night, a local official said on Tuesday.
“Police have uncovered a total of 6,299 kg of illicit opium concealed by smugglers inside a gas tanker in Khatayan area of Taluqan city, the capital of the province,” said Mohammad Akbar Haqqani, provincial police spokesperson.
The vehicle was en route from Badakhshan, a neighbouring province of Takhar, said Haqqani, adding that two suspects have been taken into custody in connection with the case.
The Afghan interim government has prohibited poppy cultivation and drug production and trafficking, pledging to combat the drug issue until Afghanistan, previously known for its poppy production, is transformed into a drug-free country.
Meanwhile, the counter-narcotics police have discovered a huge quantity of illicit drugs including 15 kg heroin and arrested 12 individuals on the charge of involvement in black business in southern Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, provincial police spokesman Mullah Assadullah Jamshid said Tuesday.
The contraband, which includes 15 kg heroin, 689 kg hashish and objects used in manufacturing heroin and hundreds of intoxicant tablets, has been recovered during a series of operations over the past two days, the official said.
Police also destroyed eight acres of poppy farms during the operations, the official added, Xinhua news agency reported.
The Afghan interim government, which has outlawed poppy cultivation, drug production and drug trafficking, has vowed to fight the drug menace until the once-poppy-growing Afghanistan becomes a drug-free nation.
–IANS
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