Afghan police seized almost three metric tons of drugs and almost one ton of chemicals within the last four days in central province of Bamiyan and eastern province of Nangarhar, the Afghan Interior Ministry said in a statement Sunday. On Saturday, the Afghan Counter Narcotics Police (CNP) seized 1,000 kilos of opium, 800 kilos of chemicals, 210 litres of acid, and one Kalashnikov assault rifle during an operation in the Achin district of Nangarhar province. The raid also resulted in the destruction of four drug labs, according to the statement. The operation followed a bust by local police four days ago in which 1,700 kilos of opium were seized from a vehicle in the Yakawlang district of Bamiyan province. The drugs were being transferred from Balkh to Helmand province, dpa reported. There were no casualties in either operation, the statement said. "This is almost three tons of opium that will never be processed into heroin, and that will never find its way onto our streets or the streets of Europe," the statement quoted General Mohammad Daud, deputy interior minister for counternarcotics, as saying. Farmers across Afghanistan started cultivation of the illicit drug soon after the fall of Taliban regime, dpa reported. Afghan president Hamid Karzai has vowed to eradicate drugs in Afghanistan, declaring a "jihad" (holy war) on all illicit drugs. --SP 2219 Local Time 1919 GMT
