Ex-Afghan MP extradited to US to face drug, weapons charges

WASHINGTON: A former member of the Afghan parliament has been extradited to the United States from Kenya to face drug and firearms charges, the Justice Department said Friday.

Abdul Zahir Qadeer, who was arrested in Nairobi in April of last year, was allegedly a “large-scale international narcotics and weapons trafficker,” the department said in a statement.

Qadeer was the deputy speaker of Afghanistan’s National Assembly prior to the Taliban takeover in 2021, it said, and he also once served as a general in the Afghan Border Force.

“While purporting to be a political leader of Afghanistan, Abdul Zahir Qadeer was allegedly leading a criminal enterprise dealing in dangerous and addictive narcotics and heavy weapons,” Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche said.

According to the criminal complaint, Qadeer discussed trafficking hundreds of kilograms of heroin and methamphetamine into the United States with an individual who was in fact a confidential source working with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Qadeer also allegedly entered into negotiations to sell hundreds of heavy machine guns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, pistols, and grenades, it said.

“In an attempt to traffic massive amounts of poison and weaponry…Qadeer allegedly sold a two-kilogram test shipment to a buyer, which was delivered in South Africa,” US Attorney Jay Clayton said.

“Unbeknownst to Qadeer, that buyer was working with the DEA,” Clayton said.

Qadeer faces a potential sentence of life in prison if convicted of conspiracy to import narcotics and firearms.