Bamiyan, Jan 29 (IANS) Authorities of the counter-narcotics department have destroyed 10.5 tonnes of illegal drugs in central Afghanistan’s Bamiyan province, the provincial police office said in a statement on Wednesday.
The contraband including opium poppy, hashish, objects used in manufacturing heroin and other toxic items was burned publicly on Tuesday, the statement said.
Police in Bamiyan banned the cultivation of poppy, drug processing, and drug trafficking in the province, Xinhua news agency reported.
Earlier on January 14, police uncovered 43 kg of illicit drugs in eastern Afghanistan’s Khost province and detained an individual on charges of involvement in drug trafficking, according to provincial police spokesman Tahir Ehrar.
The contraband, which included 43 kg of hashish and a piece of an AK-47, was discovered outside the provincial capital, Khost city. The official added that one drug smuggler had been arrested.
The police made it clear that they would not allow anyone to produce or smuggle hashish, poppy, or the objects used in manufacturing heroin in the province, Ehrar said.
The counter-narcotics police had also uncovered 64 kg of illicit drugs, including methamphetamine, and arrested 17 suspected drug smugglers in two provinces of Afghanistan, the Ministry of Interior had revealed earlier this month.
The contraband, which included 43 kg of methamphetamine and 21 kg of hashish, was seized during separate routine operations conducted by police in the outskirts of eastern Nangarhar and northern Kunduz provinces, it said.
A statement mentioned that 10 individuals were arrested on charges of drug trafficking and purchasing in Nangarhar, while seven others were arrested in connection with drug smuggling in Kunduz.
Afghanistan’s counter-narcotics police had also arrested 12 people on December 30 on charges of drug smuggling across seven out of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.
The individuals had allegedly been involved in the sale, purchase, and smuggling of contraband in the outskirts of Laghman, Bamyan, Kapisa, Parwan, Kunduz, Herat, and Farah provinces.
A large quantity of illicit drugs, including opium, hashish, and stimulant tablets, was seized from the detainees, and their dossiers were referred to the judiciary for further investigation.
The Afghan caretaker government, which had banned poppy cultivation, drug processing, and trafficking, has vowed to continue fighting the drug menace until the once-poppy-growing country became drug-free.
–IANS
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