Afghan drugs squads seize 21 tons of opium and 180 kilograms of heroin
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Counter-narcotic squads have seized and destroyed 21 tons of opium and 180 kilograms (400 pounds) of heroin in raids over the past five days across two of Afghanistan's main poppy growing regions, a government statement said Monday.
The strikes "significantly disrupted the drug trafficking trade'' in the eastern province of Nangahar, and Helmand province in the west, the statement said.
The raids included attacks on drug processing laboratories, drug markets and storehouses. Also seized was a "significant amount'' of chemicals used to process opium into heroin.
"Afghanistan is determined to tackle the drugs networks at every opportunity,'' Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali was quoted as saying.
Afghanistan's government is under fire for not being tough enough on the burgeoning drugs trade, which last year produced nearly 90 percent of the world's opium.
During a visit to Washington last month, Afghan President Hamid Karzai rejected the accusation and said that opium poppy production will be down 20 percent to 30 percent this year and his country would be rid of the drug in five or six years.
The United States, Britain and other countries are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into the anti-drug campaign. The cash is being used to train police units to destroy laboratories, arrest smugglers and destroy opium crops, as well as to fund projects to help farmers grow legal crops.-AP
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