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| Afghanistan |
| Afghan drug trafficker 'Haji Baghcho' sentenced to life over Taliban ties |
| 2012-06-16 |
| [Tolo News] A notorious Afghan narco, Haji Baghcho was sentenced on Tuesday by a US court to life imprisonment for using proceeds of one of the world's largest heroin distribution operations to support the Taliban insurgency. Haji Baghcho was manufacturing heroin in secret laboratories along Afghanistan's border with Pakistain and send drugs to more than 20 countries. He was tossed in the slammer Please don't kill me! on May 2009 and brought to US to face charges following a yearlong investigation by both Afghan and American prosecutors. Prosecutors said that his drug trafficking network in eastern Afghanistan produced hundreds of thousands of kilograms of Heroin intending to ship to United States. He was also had close ties with Taliban's high ranking official who protected from police in the area. He was also order to forfeit more than $254 million over drug proceeds. According to information obtained from sources, Haji Baghcho's network was responsible for trafficking more than 123,000 kilograms of heroin with a wholesale value of more than $261 million in 2006 alone. According to officials, the amount is roughly one-fifth of the total amount of heroin produced worldwide that year. |
| Posted by:Fred |