Police have arrested five individuals including a woman over allegedly trafficking more than 140 kilograms of lapis lazuli stones and 18 kilograms heroin in northern Kunduz province, officials said on Saturday.
Kunduz police chief Mohammad Qasim Jangalbagh told Pajhwok Afghan News the stones and the heroin were seized from a 303 public transport bus in Kisa Topa area of Ali Abad district on Friday.
He said the smugglers wanted to transfer the materials from Badakhshan province to capital Kabul.
Three people arrested in connection with trafficking the smuggling bid were currently under police interrogation.
“We have taken special measures to prevent smuggling of drugs and precious stones. We are fighting against smugglers the way we fight against terrorism. We do not want our youth to become drug addicts or our national treasury is looted,” he said.
Local officials few months back had said revenue from Badakhshan lapis lazuli mines reached more than 1.5 billion afghanis during the past one year, but all of the money went into pockets of militants and local illegal commanders instead of the state treasury.
