Pakistan’s Anti-Narcotics Force says intelligence it shared with the US Drug Enforcement Administration and Sri Lankan authorities led to the dismantling of an Afghanistan-based methamphetamine network (Dawn; ARY News; Business Recorder; Euronews).
The seizures
| Location | Quantity | |—|—| | Colombo Port | 471kg | | Karachi Port | 200kg | | Total | 671kg |
The two figures sum to the stated total. The US embassy in Colombo valued the narcotics at $21 million; Euronews reports the figure as €18m, which is the same sum converted.
The Colombo consignment was concealed in bath towels, in two containers. The Karachi seizure came from a single container.
One discrepancy to note: several outlets give the Colombo quantity as 463kg rather than 471kg. Dawn and ARY carry 471, which is the figure that sums with 200 to the stated 671 total; we have used it and flag the variance.
The arrests
An Afghan national named by ANF as Ehsanullah was described as the network’s mastermind. Two members were arrested initially, including him; a further six were detained in the subsequent Sri Lankan operation.
What ANF says its role was
The force said it “shared information with US and Sri Lankan authorities, who conducted an international joint operation”, and that the network “was attempting to use Pakistani territory as a transit route for transporting narcotics to international destinations.”
That framing is worth reading carefully. ANF is describing itself as the intelligence source rather than the arresting agency for the bulk of the seizure — 471 of the 671 kilograms were taken in Colombo, not Pakistan.
The pattern this fits
It is the second large methamphetamine case involving Pakistani ports in a week. Karachi police seized 50kg concealed in crates of tiles and marble at a Korangi warehouse on 2 September, in a network they traced to Chaman on the Afghan border with handlers in Thailand and South Africa.
Both cases describe the same architecture: Afghan-produced ephedra-derived meth, moved through Pakistani ports under cover of legitimate export cargo, bound for markets where prices are far higher than regional ones.
Unverified
The account is ANF’s. Neither the DEA nor Sri Lankan authorities have been quoted directly in the reporting, no charges have been tested in court, and the $21m valuation is the force’s own estimate.
[Image: ANF via Dawn]
