KABUL (Pajhwok): The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has rejected as baseless and politically motivated claims that a shipment of synthetic drugs seized en route to Sri Lanka originated in Afghanistan.
The US Embassy in Islamabad said in a post on X on Thursday that the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), in cooperation with Pakistan’s Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), had seized 463 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine allegedly originating from Afghanistan and worth $21 million.
The embassy said the shipment was destined for Sri Lanka and that several people had been arrested in connection with the seizure. However, it did not provide an exact figure for the number of arrests.
Geo News reported that the operation was conducted by the DEA office in Islamabad in cooperation with the ANF, Sri Lanka’s Police Narcotics Bureau and the DEA office in New Delhi.
The report said the shipment was seized on August 30.
In a statement issued in response to the US Embassy’s announcement, Abdul Qahar Balkhi, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the production, trafficking and use of all types of narcotics had been completely banned in Afghanistan by the Islamic Emirate.
He described the allegation that the seized drugs originated in Afghanistan as “baseless and politically motivated.”
Balkhi further claimed that, following the ban on narcotics in Afghanistan, the cultivation, production and trafficking of such substances had increased significantly on the other side of the Durand Line.
He said Afghanistan not only had banned narcotics but also lacked the capacity to produce synthetic drugs.
“Given that the crossing points along the Durand Line have also been completely closed to all movement for nearly a year, we call on the US Embassy in Islamabad to look for the origin of the seized narcotics in the host country and not use Afghanistan as a tool for the propaganda of others,” Balkhi said.
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