Bid to smuggle of heroin to India from Kabul airport foiled

Monitoring Desk

KABUL: Bid to smuggle around two kilos and twenty grams of heroin to India from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul has been foiled by the Afghan security forces.

The Ministry of Interior of Afghanistan (MoI) in a statement said a man was arrested as he was attempting to smuggle around 2.27 kgs of heroin to India via Hamid Karzai International Airport.

The statement further added that the man was detained as he attempting to use his suitcase for the smuggling of the heroin.

According to the ministry, a large packet of heroin was professionally placed inside the suitcase but the bid was foiled before the alleged smuggler manage to pass through the security checks.

No further details have been given regarding the identity of the detained individual as the ministry of interior says further investigations are underway in this regard.

This comes as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released its latest findings regarding the opium cultivation in Afghanistan earlier in November yeare, informing regarding a 87 per cent rise in opium cultivation and production in the country as compared to last year.

According to the latest UNODC report, there has been a rapid expansion in opium cultivation in 2017 due to a rapid expansion of the areas used to cultivate poppies.

The report further adds that the production of opium in the current year stands at 9,000 metric tons.

“Increased insurgency and funding to terrorist groups is likely within Afghanistan while more high quality, low cost heroin will reach consumer markets across the world, leading to increased consumption,” the report said.

The UN office says the farm gate value off the opium for the year has been estimated at $1.4 billion which shows a 50 per cent increased as compared to last year.