ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) has seized 426 kilograms of hashish smuggled from Afghanistan in one of its largest operations this year, uncovering a sophisticated drug-trafficking network operating in the country’s northwest.
According to ANF officials, the drugs were covertly transported from Afghanistan into Pakistan via Tirah and Bara, broken down into small consignments, and eventually stockpiled inside a well-known private housing society in Mardan. Investigators say the site had been turned into a “drug dumping hub” with the help of local facilitators.
The network relied on advanced counter-surveillance techniques, compartmentalised roles, and unpredictable routes and timings. Traffickers avoided all mobile communication to evade detection. ANF teams conducting ground surveillance noticed suspicious vehicle movements and deployed additional monitoring units along vulnerable routes.
During the operation, ANF intercepted a vehicle and arrested a key suspect carrying a large quantity of hashish. Follow-up raids, assisted by information extracted from the detainee, led to the recovery of more drugs from multiple houses inside the society. Authorities also impounded four vehicles used by the traffickers.
The seized drugs are estimated to be worth $22.4 million on the international market.
ANF said investigations link the consignment to a broader interprovincial trafficking organisation that planned to distribute the drugs nationwide when “conditions became favourable.” The agency confirmed that 31 trafficking networks, including seven major organised groups, have been dismantled this year alone.
Officials described the operation as a demonstration of ANF’s “professional strategy, surveillance capabilities, and firm commitment to countering narcotics.” The agency reiterated that nationwide operations will continue under the government’s zero-tolerance policy against drug traffickers.
