Deputy minister says airport officials involved in drug trafficking

The deputy interior minister in charge of counter-narcotics work, General Mohammad Daud, has accused some officials at Kabul international airport of involvement in drug trafficking. Addressing a press conference in Kabul on January 2, he said some airport staff were taking part in the smuggling of illicit drugs. He noted the recent arrest of four policemen at one airport. The Afghan government as well as the UN report that opium poppy cultivation fell by 21 per cent last year, and Daud expressed optimism that this year would see a further decline. Meantime, presidential spokesman Mohammad Karim Rahimi stressed on January 3 that the government was firmly committed to the war on drugs.