Afghanistan destroys 30 drug laboratories

Afghanistan, trying to rid itself of the title of the world's top opium producer, said Sunday it had destroyed 30 opium-processing laboratories and tonnes of drugs and chemicals used to make heroin.
A police narcotics force had destroyed the drugs and equipment in a four-day operation in eastern Nangarhar province, on the border with Pakistan and a main drug trafficking route, the interior ministry said.
"The force also destroyed over 4,000 kilograms (8,800 pounds) of opiates and 5,000 kilograms of chemicals used to process opium into heroin," it said in a statement.
Despite recording a significant decrease in opium poppy cultivation last year, Nangarhar is still being used by dealers as a base for laboratories that convert opium gum into morphine base and then into heroin, it said.
Afghanistan produces about 87 percent of the world's opium, most of which ends up as heroin on the streets of Europe. The illegal export of the crop makes up about half of the country's gross domestic product.