Kabul, July 28 (IANS) Afghan police seized 25 kilograms of opium and detained eight suspected drug traffickers and smugglers during separate counter-narcotics operations in eastern Afghanistan’s Paktika and Logar provinces, local authorities said Tuesday.
Police arrested six suspected drug traffickers in Paktika province after recovering 25 kg of opium during a series of operations, the provincial police office said in a statement.
In a separate operation in neighbouring Logar province, security forces detained two suspected smugglers and confiscated a large quantity of hashish and narcotic tablets, according to local security officials, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Afghan security forces have continued nationwide counter-narcotics operations as part of ongoing efforts to curb the production, trafficking and smuggling of illegal drugs across the country.
On July 26, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Interior Affairs said that Afghan counter-narcotics police have seized 42 kg of methamphetamine during an intelligence-led operation in northern Faryab province.
The drugs, which originated in western Herat province, were discovered concealed inside a vehicle and were being trafficked toward Balkh province when they were intercepted, according to a ministry statement.
One suspect was arrested in connection with the seizure and is currently under investigation, with authorities expected to refer the case to judicial officials.
The bust comes just days after police reported confiscating 403 kg of opium in the northern Takhar province and arresting two individuals in that operation.
On July 19, the Ministry of Interior Affairs said that police have rounded up more than 100 drug addicted people in central Afghanistan’s Daykundi province and sent them to a rehabilitation centre.
It also noted that 78 drug addicted people have already recovered and reunited with their families in the province.
The government would spare no efforts to provide medical treatment for the drug addicts while fighting against illegal drugs and their production and trafficking, until the once-poppy-growing nation becomes free of the drug menace, the statement further said.
Thousands of drug addicted Afghans, including women and children, have been rehabilitated and integrated into society over the past nearly five years.
–IANS
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