Farah drug sellers flee as police launch crackdown

FARAH CITY (Pajhwok): After Pajhwok published a report about drug sales in western Farah province, police have launched an operation to arrest drug sellers and many of them have gone into hiding.

According to the Pajhwok Afghan News report on December 24^th headlined “Drugs openly sold under police nose in Farah” there are houses in Lab-Gora area used for selling drugs near the police compound.

The gates of the houses having some rooms are always found closed but addicts obtain drugs from there.

Zahir Shah Ghori, counternarcotics department director, said police had launched a crackdown on drug peddlers and were trying hard to detain them after the publication of the Pajhwok Afghan News report.

According to Ghori, 20 kilograms of heroin, one Kalashnikov and two hand grenades were recovered by police during a raid on a house in Chahar Bagh village of Farah city.

He added the owner of the house could not be arrested because he was absent, but a manhunt to capture him along with his arbiter was underway. He said the operation would continue until all drug sellers were detained.

Sharafudin, a resident of Bagh-i-Kafi area, said all drugs sellers had fled the houses where told drugs after police launched the operation against them.

sa/ma