Treasury adds Afghan heroin trafficker to narcotics kingpin list
Lahore Jan, an Afghan national based in Jalalabad, uses his hawala to transfer funds for the Taliban.
Search Results for: heroin
US adds Qods Force general as ‘Narcotics Kingpin’ for heroin, weapons smuggling in Afghanistan
General Gholamreza Baghbani, the senior Qods Force officer in Zahedan, facilitates heroin and opium smuggling to arm the Taliban in Afghanistan, according to the US Treasury.
U.S. frees Taliban narcotics kingpin in exchange for Navy veteran
The Taliban released Mark Frerichs, an American veteran who has been held hostage since early 2020, in exchange for Haji Bashir Noorzai, a convicted Taliban drug kingpin who was serving a life sentence for smuggling heroin into the United States.
At Moscow conference, Taliban refers to itself as the “Islamic Emirate” 61 times
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is the name of the Taliban’s government before the US deposed it after the Sept. 11, 2001 attack by al Qaeda. The Taliban insists that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan be restored and recognized as the true representatives of the Afghan people.
Taliban still intent on ruling Afghanistan after ‘peaceful’ message to US
The Taliban has consistently stated over the past decade that it does not seek to share power with the Afghan government, and the only peace possible begins with the US abandoning the country.
Coalition attacks Taliban command center and drug labs
The US military and Afghan Air Force hit a Taliban command and control center and seven “drug labs” in what was described as “previously un-targeted safe havens in the South and Southwest” Afghanistan.
Analysis: Iran has supported the Taliban’s insurgency since late 2001
Multiple reports say Taliban leader Mullah Mansour was killed earlier this month after he returned to Pakistani soil from Iran. While some have praised Iran for supposedly seeking stability inside Afghanistan, the Iranians have supported the Taliban’s insurgency since late 2001.
Ex-Gitmo detainee reportedly a suspect in killing of Ugandan prosecutor
Ugandan authorities have reportedly arrested Jamal Kiyemba, an ex-Guantanamo detainee, in connection with the assassination of a top counterterrorism prosecutor late last month.
4 Gitmo detainees transferred to Afghanistan are veteran insurgents, files allege
On Dec. 20, the Defense Department announced the transfer of four Afghans to their home country. Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) deemed all four to be “high” risks to the US, its interests and allies. All four are veteran insurgents, according to JTF-GTMO.
Afghanistan
Russia claims Islamic State is supplying half of all Afghan heroin coming to Europe
Kenya
Shabaab gunmen killed 28 non-Muslims, including nine women, after ambushing a bus in Mandera near the border with Somalia. Shabaab claimed the attack, saying it was retaliation for government raids in Mombasa earlier this week. The Australian Navy intercepted a shipment of $155 million-worth of heroin off the East African coast on Nov. 17; Australian […]
Herat police chief accuses Iran of ramping up attacks in western Afghanistan
Herat’s chief of police accused Iran of supporting the Taliban’s killing spree in the province, which included the murder of two Finnish aid workers.
Libya
Najia Muhammad Al-Taib, a heroine of the revolution in Benghazi, was injured by gunmen. Protests and violence continued in Benghazi. Gunmen beat up the manager of a Tripoli mobile phone company. Libya signed a memorandum of understanding with Jordan in negotiations to secure the release of the kidnapped Jordanian ambassador. An Islamic library opened in […]
Kenya
Twin bombings of two minibuses in Nairobi this evening killed three people and injured over 60. Yesterday twin bombings killed four people in Mombasa and an IED was discovered at a hotel in Nyali. Authorities suspect that the huge quantity of heroin, worth nearly $300 million, that was seized by the Australian navy off the […]
Al Qaeda
British and Australian navies seize largest ever heroin haul at sea
Taliban establish training camps in southern Helmand
Dishu and Khanishan districts in Helmand province were turned over to Afghan control in early 2013. One year later, the Taliban have opened camps in the districts.
US adds 4 Qods Force operatives to terrorism list for supporting terrorism in Afghanistan
Three Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force officers and one facilitator who are involved in the “use of terrorism and intelligence operations as tools of influence against the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan” were added to the US’ list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists.
US adds Taliban shadow governor of Helmand to narcotics kingpin list
Mullah Naim Barich, the Taliban’s leader for the southern Afghan province, was added “for the significant role he plays in international narcotics trafficking,” Treasury stated.
United States
A federal court sentenced Haji Bagcho, an Afghan drug kingpin, to life in prison for conspiring to sell heroin in the US and use the proceeds to fund the Taliban. His heroin transactions in over 20 countries had supported Taliban military activities in eastern Afghanistan as well as the Taliban governor for Nangarhar province.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan – 95 tonnes of heroin smuggled to Central Asia annually
United States
A district court convicted Afghan citizen Haji Bagcho of drug and terrorism charges. From his base in Nangarhar province, he sold 20% of the world’s heroin in 2006, and provided cash, weapons, and supplies to the Taliban. Bagcho was arrested in Pakistan in 2009, turned over to Afghanistan, and extradited to the US.
Afghanistan
Afghan Children Ensnared in Heroin Trade With Iran
4 detained in narco-terror case abroad
Three men attempted to purchase $9.5 million in weapons for Hezbollah, while another man sold heroin to fund and arm the Taliban.
Real progress in Afghanistan … but to what end?
Significant forward momentum is imperiled by holes in US strategy and policy.
Iran
Iran, Nigeria – Heroin and hand grenades sour Abuja-Tehran relations
Russian forces join ISAF in narcotics raid in eastern Afghanistan
Russia appears to be ready to increase its active involvement inside Afghanistan after withdrawing from the country in 1989.
Afghanistan
Heroin lab menace grows in Afghanistan
Rumors of David Headley, rogue CIA asset
David Headley was convicted on heroin smuggling charges in 1998, and the available evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the following year he did undercover surveillance work in Pakistan for the DEA in exchange for a reduced sentence. During his time in Pakistan in 1999, his surveillance target was reportedly a drug gang based in Afghanistan/Pakistan. This […]
New charges against Headley for 2008 Mumbai attacks
David Coleman Headley, and a snapshot from his passport. Images from The Hindu. In October, 49-year-old Chicago man David Headley (born Daood Gilani) was arrested for his role in planning terrorist attacks against the Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten and two individuals associated with the notorious Muhammad cartoons incident. Subsequent to Headley’s arrest, news broke that […]
Afghanistan’s war on drugs: Child ‘chemists’ and counternarcotics
Poppy pods procured from Kandahar City. They were lanced six times each, indicating a slightly above average extraction of raw opium. Photo by Matt Dupee. “I’ve been in this business a long time, but it really disturbs me when I see the opium workshops in Mawand that are completely run with children labor.” This is […]