KABUL, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Afghan counter-narcotics police apprehended 46 suspected drug smugglers across nine provinces, the Ministry of Interior Affairs said in a statement on Sunday.
The suspects were detained during coordinated operations targeting drug smuggling, sale and purchase on the outskirts of the eastern Laghman, Kunar, Wardak, Parwan, Nangarhar, Paktika and northern Badakhshan, Jawzjan and Balkh provinces, according to the statement.
An amount of illicit drugs, including opium and stimulant tablets, was also confiscated during the counter-narcotic operations.
The Afghan government has banned poppy cultivation and drug production and trafficking, vowing to eradicate the narcotics trade and transform the country, once the world's leading producer of opium, into a drug-free nation. ■