Narcotics trafficking: Massive hashish haul in Balochistan

Pakistan is only a transhipment point of drugs: officials.

ISLAMABAD:

Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) agents claim to have seized nearly six tons (5,892 kilogrammes) of hashish – their biggest haul till date – from the Manguchar in Kalat district.

The drugs were concealed in a deserted hut located in an uninhabited area and were destined for Karachi via Hub, according to a statement released by ANF. The area was being used as a transit spot between two gangs.

Authorities claim that besides this mega operation, the ANF carried out 16 operations over one week in Rawalpindi, Lahore, Peshawar, Kohat, Kalat, Karachi, recovering 6.2 kgs of heroin, 5,965 kgs of hashish and 500 grammes of opium.

The seized drugs were destined for different countries mainly the United States, Thailand, England, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the Philippines and Hong Kong, an official requesting anonymity told The Express Tribune.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, claimed a high official of the ANF’s composite forces military wing. “The 2,430 km-long porous border that Pakistan shares with Afghanistan is the hub of this destruction to the world and the quantity of narcoses-causing drugs being prepared there with the help of acetic anhydride is just beyond anyone’s imagination,” he explained.

Pakistan, instead of producing and processing, is mainly used for transit purposes for narcotics produced and processed in Afghanistan. Almost all of Afghanistan is involved in making Pakistan geographically vulnerable to illicit drug trafficking, he added.

Relying on ANF solely is not the perfect solution to capture narco gangs, the official declared, explaining that it is a major challenge to curb the trafficking in the absence of state-of-the-art equipment along a lengthiest border, with only 2,500 personnel and 25 police stations.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 4^th, 2014.