Kabul, Feb 9 Afghanistan's security forces have seized 731 kg of illicit drugs and arrested 25 drug smugglers in the eastern Nangarhar province over the past week, the country's Ministry of Interior Affairs said in a statement on Sunday.
The drugs were confiscated during military operations conducted by security forces on the outskirts of Jalalabad city and in various districts of the province, the statement added.
According to the statement, 3,499 stimulant tablets have also been discovered during the operations, Xinhua news agency reported.
The Afghan caretaker government has committed to combating illegal drugs, as well as the production and trafficking of narcotics throughout the Central Asian country.
Police have discovered 12 kg of illicit drugs in northern Afghanistan's Baghlan province and detained an individual for involvement in drug trafficking from the area, district police chief Qari Naqibullah Muhammadi said on Saturday.
The contraband, including 12 kg of hashish, was discovered in the Banu district of this province, the official said, adding the police have also arrested one drug smuggler.
Police won't allow anyone to produce or smuggle hashish, poppy, or the objects used in manufacturing heroin in the province, the official said.
In a separate matter, Afghan counter-narcotics police have uncovered 102 kg of methamphetamine, or ice, in eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, the office of Deputy Minister of Interior for Counter-Narcotics said in a statement.
The contraband was discovered at the Torkham border crossing point between Afghanistan and Pakistan, said the statement, adding that one individual was arrested in connection with the case and his dossier was referred to the judiciary for further investigation and possible legal process.
Similarly, Afghan police seized 200 kg methamphetamine during operations in the western province of Nimroz in September of last year.
Last month, authorities of the counter-narcotics department destroyed 10.5 tonnes of illegal drugs in central Afghanistan's Bamiyan province, the provincial police office said in a statement.
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 had banned the cultivation of poppy, drug processing, and drug trafficking in the province.
Afghanistan is known to have the highest number of opiate users in the world. The national rate of drug users was 12.6 per cent among adults in 2015, almost two times higher than the global rate of 5.2 per cent. At least one family member used drugs in one out of three households in Afghanistan.
--IANS
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