QUETTA, Jan 15: Over 53.33 tons of narcotics seized by the Frontier Corps from different areas of Balochistan was burnt on Thursday in Ghazaban area.

Federal Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat and US ambassador to Pakistan Nancy Powell also attended the ceremony held to dispose of the narcotics. The Rs4 billion drugs destructed included 24.83 tons of morphine, 21.26 tons of charas and 7. 24 tons of heroin, besides 1,059 bottles of liquor and 1,532 tins of beer.

Speaking on the occasion, the minister vowed to continue fight against poppy cultivation and drug trafficking to make Pakistan a drug-free country in the world.

"We will not allow drug traffickers to use Pakistani soil as a transit point," he said. "The United States has extended its full help and cooperation in overcoming this problem," the minister said and added that Pakistan was declared as "poppy-free country" by the United Nations after achieving this goal by the Pakistan government.

Nancy Powell on the occasion lauded the efforts of the Pakistan government against drug trafficking, despite having limited resources. The US ambassador said the federal and provincial governments enforced the poppy ban and combatted drug trafficking.