( Rawstory ) An Afghan heroin kingpin who was the first person ever extradited to the United States from Afghanistan was jailed for more than 15 years on Friday for running an international drugs ring.
Baz Mohammad, 51, who has been described by President George W. Bush as one of the world's most-wanted drug kingpins, pleaded guilty in a New York federal court in July last year to charges of conspiring to import heroin.
He was extradited to the United States under an order signed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai in October 2005.
According to prosecutors, Mohammad led an international heroin-trafficking organization between 1990 and 2005 that was responsible for manufacturing and distributing millions of dollars worth of heroin in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
They said the ring was closely aligned with the ousted Taliban regime in Afghanistan and provided financial support to the hardline Islamist regime.
" Baz Mohammad is a narcotics kingpin whose drug organization, operating under the protection of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, made millions of dollars from the sale of heroin," US Attorney Michael Garcia said.
"Today's sentencing is a gratifying conclusion to an important prosecution that would not have been possible without unprecedented cooperation between law enforcement authorities in the United States and Afghanistan."
According to a federal indictment, Mohammad told members of his organization that selling heroin in the United States was an act of "jihad," or holy war, because they were taking Americans' money for a product that would kill them.