KABUL, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Afghan counter-narcotic police have thwarted cross-border drug smuggling attempts, seizing 17 kg of methamphetamine in northern Afghanistan's Balkh province, the provincial police office said in a statement on Tuesday.
Smugglers were attempting to pass on the illegal drugs hidden in a vehicle from southern Kandahar province to Uzbekistan, but police foiled their activities and arrested three of them in the province's Kaldar district, adjacent to Uzbekistan, the statement added.
The dossiers of the suspects were referred to the judiciary for further investigation and possible legal process, said the statement, adding that a pistol was found in the possession of the smugglers.
The Afghan interim government has stepped up its crackdown on illicit drugs and those involved in the business, vowing to fight the menace until the country is free from poppy cultivation. ■
