Pakistan seizes hashish worth millions of dollars

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan

Pakistan has seized three tons of hashish in an operation in the northern Arabian Sea, an official statement said on Wednesday.

The country’s navy in collaboration with Maritime Security Agency seized a boat carrying the hashish worth "millions of dollars" as part of an anti-narcotics operation, the statement from Pakistan Navy said, without mentioning if any arrests were made.

A video released by Pakistan Navy showed personnel standing behind a sack of “hashish-filled” bags recovered during the raid.

The seized drugs were supposed to be smuggled into European market via sea route.

This follows the recovery of 8,000 kilograms (17,637 pounds) of drugs worth over $90 million in the open market by Pakistan's coastguards in March this year from southwestern Balochistan province.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Pakistan is the destination and transit country for approximately 40 percent of the opium produced in neighboring Afghanistan.

Mineral-rich Balochistan province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, is said to be a key transit point for drug trafficking between the two countries. The route is also notorious for smuggling of Iranian petroleum products.

War-torn Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of illicit opium involving the country’s powerful warlords, and the militant groups, which use the drug money to arm their respective supporters despite the heavy presence of U.S.-led foreign forces for over 16 years.

Scores of small mobile laboratories have reportedly been operating in lawless Pak-Afghan border for opium processing, according to the UNODC.