QUETTA, Feb 4: Nearly three tons of morphine worth millions of dollars and a large quantity of arms were seized from a remote south western village of Balochistan near the Afghan border, on Thursday, a security officer said.

The drugs and arms, including rocket launchers, mortars and anti-aircraft shells, were found in a cave near the town of Chaghi, said Rizwan Malik, an officer of the paramilitary Frontier Corps.

The morphine, which is refined from opium, often in southern Afghanistan, was probably destined for the international black market. Mr Malik said 2,968 kg of morphine was recovered in the raid, carried out after a tip-off but no arrests were made as the cave, close to the Afghan border, had been abandoned. euters