April 05, 2010

The Criminal Justice Task Force is happy to release its official figures for the Islamic year 1388. The CJTF, set up to deal with serious narcotics cases, received 395 cases from different provinces over the course of the year. From these prosecutions 599 drug traffickers were convicted by the Appeal court of the CJTF and 49 were acquitted.

The 599 convicted includes, 35 Afghan officials, 5 females and 13 foreigners. The rest were medium and high value drag traffickers who had links with trafficking networks inside and outside of Afghanistan.

Significant convictions included;

•    A school principle from Helmand province was arrested for trafficking more than 3 tonnes of hashish
•    Three drug traffickers from Helmand province were arrested for trafficking 5 tonnes opium
•    One man from Kandahar province was arrested for trafficking more than 233 tonnes of hashish 
•    Three men from Kabul province were arrested for trafficking 164 kg heroin

A significant success from the figures is the number of Afghan officials successfully convicted. These included;

•    A district ANP Commander from Kandahar
•    An ANA Commander from Maidan Wardak
•    A district NDS chief from Takhar
•    Two members of the Kabul International Border Police.

The greatest number of convictions came from Helmand with 94 drug traffickers successfully prosecuted. The second highest number of convictions came from those cases referred from Nangarhar with a further 60 traffickers being prosecuted.

Commenting on the figures, the Director of Communications at the CJTF, Mr. Khalilu Rahman Motawakel said,

“In the past people from within Afghanistan, as well as the international community, thought that public officials were powerful and above the law, but since the Criminal Justice Task Force started its activities we have seen attitudes start to change. The CJTF is committed to implementing the Counter Narcotics Law fairly and will target anyone suspected of narcotics related offences including government officials.

The Criminal Justice Task Force is determined that the forthcoming year will be even more successful and will continue to have a significant impact on lowering the illegal activities of drug traffickers in this country.”


Background: The Criminal Justice Task Force (CJTF) includes a dedicated Investigation and Laboratory dept, General Prosecutions Directorate, Primary and Appeal Courts works under the counter-narcotics law.
In Islamic year 1387, 397 cases along with 442 suspects faced investigation by CJTF Investigation and Laboratory Department. The Primary court convicted 259 people on drug trafficking offences, and acquitted 134 people. The Appeal Court convicted 355 people, and acquitted 66.