STORY: 20 tonnes of drugs destroyed in Afghanistan
SHOOTING TIME: April 23, 2024
DATELINE: April 25, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:44
LOCATION: Kabul
CATEGORY: OTHERS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Afghan security force members in preparation for burning illicit drugs and the objects used in manufacturing drugs, in Kabul
2. SOUNDBITE (Pashto): MUFTI AHMADULLAH AHMADI, Head of counter-narcotics police
3. various of the ceremony of setting on fire illicit drugs and the objects used in manufacturing drugs

STORYLINE:

The Afghan caretaker government held a ceremony on Tuesday to set on fire a huge quantity of illicit drugs and the objects used in manufacturing drugs on the outskirts of the capital city of Kabul.

More than 20 tonnes of illicit drugs including 635 kg of heroin were set on fire publicly.

SOUNDBITE (Pashto): MUFTI AHMADULLAH AHMADI, Head of counter-narcotics police
"The counter-narcotics police have conducted more than 22,000 operations and arrested more than 9,000 individuals on the charge of involvement in drug business. Police have also destroyed more than 900 drug labs and smashed 13,000 hectares of poppy farms during the operations."
   
The interim government has banned poppy cultivation and processing and drug trafficking in order to eliminate the menace of drugs to the nation.

According to a report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime last November, opium cultivation in Afghanistan fell from 233,000 hectares to 10,800 hectares in 2023, leading to a 95 percent drop in the supply of opium.
   
Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Kabul.
(XHTV)