RFE/RL’s Tajik Service March 2, 2021 A high-ranking Afghan politician has found himself at the center of a scandal in Tajikistan involving $15 million in cash and some 90 kilos of gold bars seized from smugglers at the Dushanbe airport in November. Mohammad Mirza Katawazai, the deputy chairman of the Afghan parliament, angrily rejects the
Ariana: Amrullah Saleh, First Vice President has rejected the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction’s (SIGAR) report over the smuggling of cash from the Hamid Karzai International Airport. In his daily 6:30 am meeting, Saleh stated: “However a massive amount of foreign currency does exit Afghanistan’s porous land borders by cross-border networks. Click here to
Tolo News: The US Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) in a report published on Jan. 14 says that since the collapse of the Taliban regime in 2001, cash smuggling out of Afghanistan’s international air and land ports has been a concern for the Afghan government, the United States, and the international community. This latest
Tolo News: Pakistani authorities seized 74 smuggled falcons belonging to “endangered species” in raids at a posh residential area in the southern port city of Karachi, a customs official said on Saturday (October 17). At a press conference, the customs collector Mohammad Saqif said the birds were smuggled from Afghanistan and were destined to be
Khaama Press: Officials stopped three children being trafficked to Pakistan based on an unknown purpose. Hijratullah Akbari a spokesperson to Kunduz police said, the victims were between 10 years of age, they reside in the Charkh-Aab Area of the city. He added, these children were being trafficked to Pakistan while being caught by the police,
Tolo News: Sculptures of nine buddha heads, and a torso, are being returned to Afghanistan from Britain. Experts believe that nine clay heads and a torso carved from schist shipped to London in 2002 were made in Buddhist monasteries in Afghanistan between 4 and 6 AD. The heads may have been broken off from torsos during
The Telegraph (UK): The treasure has come to light only because it was dug up illicitly in Afghanistan and smuggled to Britain. It dates from between about 2300 and 2000 BC when Afghanistan was closely connected by trade with the neighbouring Bronze Age civilisations in the Indus valley (Pakistan), eastern Iran and southwest Central Asia. Click here
Tolo News: According to the head of Herat’s NEPA office, Nasir Ahmad Fazli, smuggling is so prolific that even the Common Myna’s numbers have dropped. Hunting bans have proved difficult to enforce and live trappers target smaller hawks up to eagles, and even the common myna – which belongs to the starling family. According to officials the
Arab News: The trade of scorpion hunting in Afghanistan, though unregistered, has been around for years but has become a lucrative business in the past few months. A local dealer from western Herat province said Herat and neighboring Farah, with vast scorching deserts, have become the common hunting ground for shepherds and poor local residents who
Tolo News: A suspected gem stone smuggler has said mines in Badakhshan’s Karan-o-Manjan district, especially those extracting Lapis Lazuli, are out of government’s control and are being mined illegally. The 43-year-old man said he takes them to Peshawar in Pakistan where he sells them. “If you go to Peshawar, you can see trucks full of these