Ex-Afghan MP extradited to US on drug, gun charges

Former Afghan parliament member Abdul Zahir Qadeer has been extradited from Kenya to the United States to face drug and firearms charges, the US Justice Department said Friday.

The department said Qadeer was arrested in Nairobi in April last year and alleged that he was a large-scale international narcotics and weapons trafficker. It said he had been deputy speaker of Afghanistan's National Assembly before the Taliban takeover in 2021 and had also served as a general in the Afghan Border Force.

According to the criminal complaint, Qadeer discussed trafficking hundreds of kilograms of heroin and methamphetamine into the United States with a person who was working as a confidential source for the US Drug Enforcement Administration.

The Justice Department also said Qadeer allegedly negotiated to sell heavy machine guns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, pistols and grenades.

US Attorney Jay Clayton said Qadeer allegedly sold a two-kilogram test shipment to a buyer who was working with the DEA, and that the shipment was delivered in South Africa.

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