79 people held with 986kg of drugs in a week

KABUL (Pajhwok): Neray 80 people, including a Pakistani national, have been detained during the past one week for attempting to smuggle hundreds of kilograms of narcotics in different parts the country.

A statement from the Criminal Justice Task Force (CJTF) to Pajhwok Afghan News said the men, including a Pakistani, were detained in Kabul, Helmand, Khost, Kapisa, Nimroz, Laghman, Badakhshan, Daikundi, Paktia, Takhar, Kandahar, Badghis, Faryab, Parwan, Nangarhar, Herat, Baghlan, Maidan Wardak and Kunduz provinces during the past week.

The statement did not provide further details, but said the drugs recovered from the detainees included heroin, hashish, alcohol and chemicals and weighed 986 kilograms.

Similarly, $300 and 62,000 afghanis in cash, 21 mobile phone sets, eight weapons and seven vehicles were also seized from the alleged drug smugglers, the statement added.

On the other hand, Maj Gen. Abdul Qayum Baqizoi, the Sar-i-Pul police chief, told at a press conference on Saturday that police arrested five people with 424 kilograms of opium late Friday night.

pk/ma