Islamabad: A staggering 51 tonnes of drugs, including heroin and cocaine, were burnt by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) in Rawalpindi on Thursday.
The narcotics torched at the ceremony were estimated to be worth $239 million. These were seized in raids carried out by the ANF and from smugglers at airports during 2016.
At the ceremony, ANF Director General Maj. Gen Nasir Dilawar Shah said the force has arrested 1,479 smugglers in the last 10 years -- 505 of whom have been sentenced.
He said Pakistan has been free of poppy since 2005, and added that in the past decade, 298 tonnes of narcotics worth $896 million have been set on fire.
He said drugs were being produced and smuggled the most in Afghanistan.
Curbing drugs smuggling at Pakistan's western border was a "great challenge for security institutions", he said.
