KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – An Afghan man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison by a federal judge in New York for his involvement in narco-terrorism and witness tampering, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced on Friday.
The 59-year-old man, identified as Haji Abdul Satar Manaf, also known as Haji Abdul Satar Barakzai, attempted to send a ton of heroin for distribution in New York City to benefit the Haqqani Network and the Taliban, the attorney’s office said.
“Haji Abdul Satar Manaf used heroin as a weapon of war, funding the Taliban and Haqqani Network to spread terror and death,” said Anne Milgram, Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
“Today’s sentence sends a clear message: narco-terrorists who bankroll terror and threaten American lives will be brought to justice, no matter where they hide,” she added.
According to the statement, the US Treasury Department had previously sanctioned the man in June 2012 for his financial contributions to the Taliban and for aiding their fight against Western coalition forces in Afghanistan.
In August 2018, Manaf sold a 10-kilogram shipment of heroin in Afghanistan to an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent, believing it would be shipped to the US for sale in New York. Manaf said that he had paid the Taliban to facilitate the heroin’s production and that the group would protect future shipments.
“In August 2018, Manaf facilitated the transfer of thousands of dollars of what he believed to be narcotics proceeds through his money-remitting business to individuals Manaf had been advised were members of the Haqqani Network,” part of the statement reads.
While awaiting trial and incarcerated in New York, Manaf directed his family members to kidnap and threaten a DEA source, a witness to his crime, in an effort to silence him, according to the statement.
“MANAF’s brothers did just as he directed—they kidnapped that DEA source at gunpoint in Afghanistan and threatened to kill him,” the statement said, adding that in addition to the prison sentence, Manaf was also sentenced to five years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit the proceeds from his crimes.
This comes as the US released Haji Bashir Noorzai, a Taliban ally and convicted drug lord described by US officials as the “Pablo Escobar” of heroin trafficking in Asia, in exchange for an American citizen in September 2022.
Sources have told KabulNow that Noorzai has become one of the most powerful individuals without an official position in the Taliban government. In addition to controlling the drug cartel, he is also engaged in the extraction and trade of Afghanistan’s mines.
