Afghanistan: 31 smugglers arrested, 258 kg drugs seized in police operations

Kabul, Dec 11 Afghan counter-narcotics police have arrested 31 suspected drug smugglers and seized 258 kg of illicit drugs during operations across several provinces, the Ministry of Interior Affairs said in separate statements on Thursday.

The seized contraband included 194 kg of opium, 35 kg of hashish, and 29 kg of methamphetamine. Operations were conducted in the western province of Herat and the northern provinces of Kunduz and Baghlan, where four individuals were detained, according to the ministry, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Separately, in a series of counter-narcotics operations conducted in the capital Kabul, police arrested 27 suspects accused of involvement in the sale, purchase, and smuggling of illicit drugs.

The Afghan government has banned poppy cultivation, drug production, and trafficking, vowing to continue its crackdown until the country, once a leading global source of opium, becomes drug-free.

On Wednesday, provincial police spokesman Ehsanullah Kamgar said Afghan police arrested an individual on charges of drug smuggling and confiscated 16 kg of opium in northern Afghanistan's Badakhshan province.

The arrest took place during an operation in the Kishim district of the province. Police found the suspect in possession of the contraband and have taken him into custody for further investigation, the official said.

On November 30, local police said that a consignment of illegal drugs was seized in western Afghanistan's Nimroz province and its owner taken into custody.

The alleged drug smuggler, according to the official, was attempting to take 3 kg of methamphetamine out of the province, but police foiled the attempt and took him into custody, spokesman for the provincial police office Mawlawi Gul Mohammad Qudrat said.

The Afghan government, which outlawed cultivation of illegal crops including poppy and hashish in 2022, has vowed to continue the war against drugs, their production, process and trafficking until the once drug-producing nation becomes free of the drug menace.

On November 16, the Ministry of Interior Affairs stated that Afghan counter-narcotics police seized a quantity of illicit drugs, including crystal meth, and arrested 21 suspected smugglers in separate operations across multiple provinces.

The seizure included 86 kg of raw hashish, 5 kg of crystal meth, a quantity of methamphetamine, stimulant tablets, and some other types of narcotics.

The drugs were discovered during a series of routine police operations, said the statement.

21 individuals were arrested in connection with the cases, it noted.

The police will not allow anyone to produce, purchase, or smuggle illegal drugs in the country, the Ministry said, reaffirming its commitment to combating the narcotics trade.

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