Some parts of Takhar become smugglers’ paradise

TALOQAN (Pajhwok): Due to the absence of security check-posts, some areas of Mawra-o-Kokcha district have become safe havens for drug traffickers, local residents on Wednesday.

Officials, however, said efforts were underway for the establishment of security posts in the vulnerable areas of the remote district.

Ajab Khan, a resident of Khwaja Ghar district, said drugs and livestock were smuggled to neighbouring Tajikistan during previous and the current governments.

“The government has repeatedly pledged to set checkpoints, but nobody has taken practical steps yet. As a result, these areas have emerged as safe havens for traffickers and smugglers,” he alleged.

Khan assured residents of the localities would cooperate with the security forces on countering smuggling and eliminating traffickers.

Ahmad Khan (not a real name), hailing from Khwaja Bahauddin district, commented: “We have been witness to the smuggling of drugs and other contraband items from the district.

“Some people, who filter gold from river sand, also collaborate with smugglers because they remain in these areas most of the time.”

He asked the government to establish more checkpoints and create job opportunities for the locals so that smuggling and other illicit activities were discouraged.

Sameer, who belongs to Dasht Qala district, also voiced concern over drug trafficking. He called the district, bordering Tajikistan, the easiest point from where drugs and other materials could be smuggled to the former Soviet republic.

He insisted the only reason why smuggling and drug trafficking continued unabated in Takhar was the absence of security checkpoints.

Khwaja Ghar district’s crime branch chief Mullah Abdul Haleem Furqani said: “We arrested some livestock smugglers in this area. They were trying to bring eight cows from Tajikistan to Afghanistan illegally.”

Furqani claimed some smugglers were already in detention while others were being chased. He assured the creation of more checkpoints in the areas close to Tajikistan to prevent the smuggling of drug and other items.

Meanwhile, provincial police chief Abdul Mobin Safi confirmed security forces had recently arrested a man trying to smuggle drugs to Tajikistan.

He said they had shared the problem with higher-ups in Kabul while efforts were ongoing to set up more check-posts in the area.

Concerns over the scourge of growing smuggling are raised soon after Tajikistan recently held military drills close to the Afghanistan border.

nh/mud

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