A total of 27 major Afghan drug traffickers have been sentenced to 18 years in prison each, Afghan drug justice center said on Sunday.
The centre said that 27 citizens of Nangarhar, Herat, Helmand, Kapisa, Panjshir, Kunar, Kandahar and Wardak Afghan provinces will also have to pay some $66,000 fee.
Last year, a total of 502 Afghan drug traffickers were sentenced to 18 and over years in prison.
Earlier this week a source in the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said that an unknown disease destroyed almost a half of Afghanistan's opium crop.
Until recently, Afghanistan produced 92% of the world's opium. The crop is a source of income for both the Afghan peasants and the Taliban.
Afghan drug production has reportedly risen 44 times since the U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban in 2001.
According to the Federal Drug Control Service, Afghan opium causes the deaths of around 100,000 people around the world annually.
An estimated 90% of heroin consumed in Russia is trafficked from Afghanistan via Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Russia, which has 30,000-40,000 drug-related deaths every year, has repeatedly raised the alarm over insufficient anti-drug measures by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which has about 90 troops in Afghanistan.
Most of the heroin supplied to Europe passes through Russia on its way from the south Central Asian state.
On June 9-10, representatives of key anti-drugs agencies and leading experts will attend an international forum in Moscow, initiated by RIA Novosti, on combating Afghan drug trafficking.
The participants will attempt to adopt a common strategy in the struggle against drug production and international drug trafficking.
KABUL, May 16 (RIA Novosti)
