KABUL, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Afghan law enforcement agencies have detained 16 people for alleged drug-related crimes within a week in four provinces, authorities said on Wednesday.
"Counter-Narcotics Police of Afghanistan (CNPA) together with Afghan security forces busted 11 drug cases and captured 16 people in Kabul, Kandahar, Baghlan and Herat provinces over the past week," the Counter-Narcotics Criminal Justice Task Force of Afghanistan (CJTF) said in a statement.
After initial investigations, the CNPA has handed over the cases to the Central Narcotics Tribunal or CNT, a special Afghan court for jurisdiction of major drug cases, the statement noted.
Among the drugs and materials found from the suspects were 9 kg of heroin, 18 kg of morphine, over 25 kg of opium, and 69 kg of hashish, the statement said, adding the CNPA also seized three vehicles, 17 mobile phones from the arrested.
The security force also confiscated local and foreign currencies from the arrested, totaling around 4,500 U.S. dollars.
In addition, an appellant court of the Central Narcotics Tribunal has sentenced 10 drug suspects to different ranges imprisonment over the period, the statement noted.
In 2017, some 9,000 tons of opium were produced in Afghanistan, a country notorious for growing opium-producing poppies.
