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917 drug traffickers arrested in the past four months: Deputy of Counter Narcotic of MoI
By Farhad Naibkhel-KABUL: A drug lord who had been financing insurgency and terrorism was arrested by the counter-narcotics police in eastern Nangarhar province, officials confirmed Wednesday.
“Joma Khan was arrested through an operation in the Sherzad district on August 2,” deputy interior minister Baz Mohammad Ahmadi said.
“Khan was a big international drug dealer and used to support Taliban financially,” Ahmadi said.
His 11.6 tons of narcotics were seized and six laboratories were destroyed during operations, he added.
He stated that Joma Khan’s 30 armed men were also killed during operation in Nangarhar.
Joma Khan is resident of Marakai village of Sherzad district, and was being chased by police for the past ten years.
He said that police also arrested two other big drug traffickers last month.
International drug runners Ghulam Sakhi and Mir Wali were arrested in Zaranj city of Nimroz in separate operations, he noted.
He said that over around 300kg narcotics discovered and confiscated from the possession of the two detained smugglers.
Mir Wali is one of the big drug traffickers, who smuggled five to ten tons of opium from Helmand to Iran monthly, he claimed
Drug for gun is the commercial deal which through drug traffickers fueling insurgency in Afghanistan as Ahamadi says that around 90 percent of drug cultivation is in southern and southwestern provinces.
He emphasized that war by 30 percent linked to the drug cultivation and smuggling in southern provinces.
He said that CNP concentrate over arrest of big drug dealers and cultivation, which mostly locate in insecure areas across the country.
Low capacity is a big challenge for CNP combat against drug traffickers in insecurity provinces, he mentioned.
Although CNP in collaboration with other related organs struggled best to eliminate narcotics cultivation, but eradication will be at low level due to lack of enough capability in the aspect this year, he asserted.
On the other hand Counter Narcotics Deputy said that “917 drug traffickers were arrested during 749 operations has been conducted by CNP in the past four months throughout the country.”
He said that over 128 tons of narcotics and alcoholic beverages seized by police.
Two police, five army and four foreign citizens were also among arrested smugglers, he added.
Twenty-seven female who were involved in drug trafficking were also arrested in the past four months, he underlined.
