Police destroy two drug labs in Afghanistan

Kabul, Sep 24 (IANS) Police have discovered and destroyed two drug processing labs in southern Afghanistan's Uruzgan province, said a statement of the provincial police office on Wednesday.

Acting on a tip-off, the counter-narcotics police raided specific places in Charchino and Chori districts on Monday and destroyed two drug processing labs, the statement said, Xinhua news agency reported.

Police also discovered and set on fire more than 3 tonnes of different kinds of illegal objects used in manufacturing heroin, the statement said.

Police also took into custody three individuals on charges of involvement in the drug business and, after preliminary investigations, handed them over to the judiciary, the statement added.

Earlier in the drive against illegal drugs, police discovered 210 kg of opium poppy in the northern Baghlan and eastern Ghazni provinces and arrested four alleged drug smugglers.

On September 16, police unearthed a drug processing lab in Afghanistan's Badakhshan province and detained five individuals, a spokesman for the provincial police office, Ehsanullah Kamgar, said.

Acting on a tip-off, the counter-narcotics police raided a place in Darayem district Monday morning and discovered the drug processing lab along with 170 kg of processed opium poppy, which was ready to turn into heroin, the official said, adding that five persons were arrested from the site.

The Afghan government has intensified its nationwide campaign against narcotics, targeting traffickers, cultivators, and production networks, with a commitment to eradicate poppy farming and heroin manufacturing.

On September 8, a provincial police spokesman said that Afghan police have dismantled six drug processing labs and seized more than 10,000 kg of materials used in heroin production in the southern province of Helmand.

Counter-narcotics police units conducted separate operations on the outskirts of Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital, and in various districts, destroying the labs and confiscating the illicit substances, said Mullah Ezatullah Haqqani, spokesman for the provincial police.

--IANS

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