By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
An Afghan national with ties to the Taliban who authorities described as “one of the largest heroin traffickers in the world” was convicted Tuesday in fed court in D.C. on drug and narco-terrrorism charges, the Justice Department said.
Haji Bagcho, who hailed from Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, was investigated by the DEA. Authorities said he manufactured heroin in clandestine laboratories along Afghanistan’s border region with Pakistan and sold the product to more than 20 countries, including the U.S.
He then sent the proceeds to support high-level members of the Taliban to further their insurgency in Afghanistan, the Justice Dept. said.
“Haji Bagcho was a prolific and dangerous heroin manufacturer, trafficking in over 123,000 kilograms of the drug in 2006 alone,” said Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer in a statement.
“Moreover, he used proceeds from his crimes to fund Taliban insurgents and fuel their ongoing ‘jihad’ against the United States and others. The effects of Bagcho’s criminal activity were felt all over the world, and today’s guilty verdict ensures that he will serve a lengthy prison term.”
