Heroin lab destroyed in war on drugs

COVERT operation in north-east Afghanistan in which a heroin laboratory was destroyed was only the beginning of the country’s war against drugs, an official said at an international conference in Kabul yesterday.

More than 200 delegates gathered in the Afghan capital to discuss the country’s burgeoning narcotics industry, with officials hoping to raise about $300m (€237.5m) to fight the drugs trade which they believe is fuelling terrorism.

Afghanistan, the world’s largest producer of opium used to make heroin, is hosting the conference which it hopes will reawaken donor nations to the drug issues confronting the war-ravaged nation, including increased opium crops and growing numbers of heroin addicts.

Afghanistan Counter Narcotics Department director general Mirwais Yasini said the an anti-drug operation in early January in north-eastern Badakhshan province was “only the beginning in the war against drugs” in Afghanistan.

The elite unit of Afghan police which carried out the top-secret operation, and which had been trained by the British military, seized some two tonnes of drugs during the raid in the small town of Shurabak. The US military later bombed the laboratory.

“This operation was only the beginning of our fight against drugs. We will continue these kind of operations,” said Mr Yasini.