Afghan police smash drug-processing lab in southern region
Kabul, June 30 (IANS) The counter-narcotics police in the fight against illegal drugs have discovered and destroyed a drug-processing lab in Helmand province south of Afghanistan, said a statement of provincial directorate for Information and Culture on Tuesday.
The illegal laboratory was spotted in Baghran district on Monday, the statement said, adding that police also seized a huge quantity of illegal objects that were used in making illegal drugs from the site of operations.
No one has been arrested and efforts are underway by police to arrest and bring to justice those involved in the black business, the statement emphasised, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Earlier, police also reported the demolition of 400 acres of poppy farms in the western Farah province a couple of days ago.
On June 8, Afghanistan’s Ministry for Interior Affairs said that Afghan police in the drive against illegal drugs have discovered illegal drugs and also destroyed drug processing labs in the southern Uruzgan and western Farah provinces of the country.
A total of 21 kg of illegal drugs and 273 stimulant tablets (locally known as Tablet K) have been seized. Police also destroyed drug processing labs along with around 1,000 kg of objects used in manufacturing heroin in Uruzgan and Farah provinces, the statement posted on the ministry’s social platform X asserted.
Police have also taken into custody five individuals on charges of involvement in the black business, the statement went on to say.
Without providing more details, the statement noted that the counter-narcotics police would continue the war against illegal drugs until Afghanistan gets rid of the drug menace.
Earlier in May, Afghan counter-narcotics forces have seized a substantial quantity of narcotics and drug-processing materials during ongoing operations in southern Helmand province, the state-run Bakhtar News Agency reported.
According to the report, authorities confiscated approximately 8,170 kg of heroin, along with materials used in the processing and production of illegal drugs. The seizure is part of continued efforts to combat drug trafficking and dismantle criminal networks involved in the production and distribution of narcotics.
Similarly, security forces confiscated 55 kg of methamphetamine in Nimroz province in western Afghanistan.
–IANS
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