Pakistan said Wednesday it had seized its largest ever heroin haul, impounding 375 kilograms (825 pounds) of the narcotic worth an estimated $44 million on the international market. About 108 kilograms hidden in matchboxes was seized late Monday from a container at the Arabian sea port and another 267 kilograms of heroin in a follow up raid in Quaid Abad neighbourhood, officials said.
"We have arrested five people and during investigations they have confessed that they were involved in drugs smuggling for a long time," an Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) official told AFP. The official said the heroin was smuggled from neighbouring Afghanistan through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
"This is the biggest heroin seizure in the history of Pakistan," the ANF said in a statement, putting the value of the stash at $1.76 million on the local market and $44 million on the international market. Pakistan has more than four million drug addicts in a population of 176 million, according to figures compiled by the ANF, which is responsible for investigating and prosecuting drug offences.