Kabul: An Afghan court sentenced a border
police official to 20 years in prison for possessing 40 tonnes
of hashish, the tribunal said today.
The 37-year-old Lieutenant Colonel was convicted in Kabul
today, said the Criminal Justice Task Force, a special
tribunal that tries drugs-related cases.
The man, identified as the commander of the quick
reaction battalion of border police in the southern province
of Kandahar was arrested in June after drugs were found in his
home, the tribunal spokesman, Khalil-Ul Rahman Mutawakil said.
"The said person was sentenced to 20 years in jail and
fined two million Afghanis (40,000 dollars) for possessing 40
tonnes of hashish," the court said.
Four other men described as "his accomplices" were also
convicted. One was sentenced to 20 years and the others to
five years in prison.
Destitute Afghanistan is a major producer of the world's
illicit drugs. It is the source of around 90 per cent of the
world's opium, used to make the heroin sold on the streets of
Europe and central Asia, with profits helping to bankroll the
Taliban in an eight-year insurgency.
Most of the opium comes from Kandahar and the neighbouring
province of Helmand where the Taliban have a strong presence.
President Hamid Karzai vowed to clamp down on the drugs
trade and opium cultivation after being sworn in for his new
five-year term last week. Afghan officials, particularly
police, are said to be involved no lucrative trade.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, November 25, 2009, 23:16