Kabul, Nov 11 — Afghan authorities burned more than 53 tons of illegal drugs in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar on Wednesday, provincial police spokesman Mullah Assadullah Jamshid said.
The contraband, which included opium, heroin, methamphetamine, hashish and other illicit substances and materials used in drug production, had been seized over the past three months during a series of operations in different districts, the official said.
The drugs were publicly burned at a ceremony attended by government officials and tribal elders, he added, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Police also arrested 227 individuals on charges of involvement in the drug trade during the period, Jamshid said.
He warned that strict action would be taken against anyone involved in producing or trafficking illegal drugs in the province.
On November 1, local police official said Afghan security forces dismantled eight clandestine heroin processing laboratories and arrested 17 suspected drug traffickers in western Ghor province.
Acting on intelligence and a tip-off, counter-narcotics units conducted a targeted raid on the outskirts of Chaharsada district, destroying the facilities and seizing substantial quantities of precursor chemicals and illicit narcotics used in heroin production, provincial police spokesman Mawlawi Abdul Rahman Badri said.
The suspects have been taken into custody and transferred to judicial authorities, with case files submitted for further legal proceedings, Badri added.
The operation is part of an intensified nationwide campaign against the narcotics trade, targeting traffickers, cultivators and production networks in a concerted effort to dismantle Afghanistan's illicit drug economy.
On October 18, police burned nearly one tonne of illegal drugs in the western Afghan province of Farah, provincial police spokesman Kalimullah Nangyal said.
The narcotics, including 955 kg of opium-type drugs, hashish and 36 kg of methamphetamine, were seized during a series of operations recently and publicly burned on Sunday, the official said.
Police also arrested a suspected drug smuggler, who would be handed over to the judiciary after the completion of a preliminary investigation, the official added.