KABUL, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Afghan police destroyed four drug processing labs and arrested three people on charge of involvement in the drug business, the Ministry of Interior Affairs said on Sunday.
Acting on a tip-off, counter-narcotics police on Saturday discovered and destroyed the drug labs in northern Badakhshan, Samangan and western Nimroz provinces, and took three people into custody, the ministry said in a statement.
The police also uncovered a huge quantity of materials used in manufacturing heroin at the raided sites, the statement said.
In a similar crackdown, counter-narcotics police destroyed a drug lab in the western Nimroz province a couple of days ago and detained a person.
Afghan authorities have intensified the crackdown on illicit drugs and those involved in the underground business. Security personnel arrested 19 alleged drug smugglers in Kabul, Nangarhar and Herat provinces a few days ago, police said.
Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader of the Afghan caretaker administration issued a decree in April last year to ban the cultivation of illegal crops, including poppy, and drug processing and trafficking. ■