KABUL, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Afghan counter-narcotics police in southern Helmand province have seized hundreds of kilograms of illicit drugs and arrested seven suspected smugglers during a series of operations over the past week, a provincial police spokesman said Wednesday.
According to Mullah Ezatullah Haqani, spokesman for the Helmand police, the confiscated drugs included heroin, opium poppy and hashish, along with a few more items used in manufacturing heroin. The police destroyed the seized narcotics on the spot, he said.
Haqani emphasized that the local police remain committed to curbing drug-related activities in the province.
In addition to the arrests, the police also detained 114 drug users during the same period and transferred them to a hospital for treatment and rehabilitation, the spokesman added.
Helmand, long regarded as one of Afghanistan's main opium-producing regions, has been a focal point of anti-drug operations since the authorities intensified efforts to eliminate narcotics production and trafficking nationwide. ■
