United States Drug Enforcement Administration

New York - United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, Acting Attorney General for the United States, Todd Blanche, and Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), Terrance C. Cole, announced today the unsealing of a Complaint charging ABDUL ZAHIR QADEER, a/k/a “Haji Abdul Zahir,” a former general in Afghanistan’s Border Force and First Deputy Speaker of Afghanistan’s National Assembly’s House of the People, with conspiring to import heroin and methamphetamine and related firearms offenses.  QADEER was presented earlier today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry J. Ricardo and ordered detained pending trial, following his arrest in Nairobi, Kenya, on April 15, 2025 and extradition to the United States on July 10, 2026. 

“The world is safer now that Abdul Zahir Qadeer is facing justice in the United States,” said DEA Administrator Terrance C. Cole.  “As a former General for Afghanistan’s Border Force, Qadeer was entrusted to protect his country's borders—instead, he exploited his position to facilitate drug and weapons trafficking that fueled violence and instability.  Make no mistake; we will use the full weight of the United States government to bring such individuals to justice. No matter where you are, no matter how powerful you think you are—you are not out of our reach.”

“Abdul Zahir Qadeer, a former high-ranking Afghan government official, allegedly also held a dual role as a large-scale international narcotics and military-grade weapons trafficker,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton.  “In an attempt to traffic massive amounts of poison and weaponry—including heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers—Qadeer allegedly sold a two-kilogram test shipment to a buyer, which was delivered in South Africa.  Unbeknownst to Qadeer, that buyer was working with the DEA.  The scale of potential devastation Qadeer was attempting to bring to the U.S. is terrifying.  This brazen effort underscores the need for the commitment and expertise of our career prosecutors and DEA partners.”

“While purporting to be a political leader of Afghanistan, Abdul Zahir Qadeer was allegedly leading a criminal enterprise dealing in dangerous and addictive narcotics and heavy weapons,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.  “The Drug Enforcement Administration led an investigation that ended Qadeer’s audacious criminal activity, and now he will face justice in the United States.”

According to the allegations contained in the Complaint and other public filings:(1)

QADEER is a former member of Afghanistan’s National Assembly, which functioned as the legislature of Afghanistan until the Taliban regained control of the country in or about August 2021, and he was elected First Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly’s House of the People in or about 2012.  QADEER previously served as a general in Afghanistan’s Border Force, a paramilitary police organization responsible for securing Afghanistan’s border, commanding its Eighth Border Battalion in Takhar Province, Afghanistan.  QADEER is pictured below, dressed in blue, toward the left of the image:

Qadeer was also, until his arrest, a large-scale international narcotics and weapons trafficker.  As alleged in the complaint, Qadeer engaged in extensive negotiations with an individual who purported to be a member of an international drug trafficking organization (the “DTO”) but, unbeknownst to Qadeer, was in fact a confidential source (CS-1) working at the direction of the DEA. 

In or about November 2024, CS-1 began communicating with Qadeer about their potential partnership in trafficking hundreds of kilograms of heroin and methamphetamine for importation into and sale in the United States for the purported DTO. As an early step in their partnership, on or about Dec. 10, 2024, Qadeer sold a two-kilogram test shipment of methamphetamine delivered to CS-1’s associate in Johannesburg, South Africa, in exchange for approximately $14,000. Thereafter, Qadeer continued to negotiate with CS-1 regarding the sale to the DTO of hundreds of kilograms of heroin and methamphetamine, along with hundreds of heavy machine guns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, pistols, and grenades, which CS-1 represented would be used by the DTO to protect its drug trafficking activities from interdiction by the United States government. Pictured below is a purported weapons order from CS-1 that Qadeer agreed to fulfill: 

Upon receiving the weapons order, QADEER provided CS-1 with quotes of how much he would charge to source each weapon, including, for example, $11,579 for one sniper rifle, $9,670 for one type of machine gun, and $1,770 for 10 grenades in one box.

In or about April 2025, QADEER attended a meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, with several individuals who he believed to be members of the DTO he would supply with narcotics and weapons.  In reality, it was a meeting between QADEER and multiple DEA confidential sources. Kenyan law enforcement officers arrested QADEER immediately following the meeting.

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ABDUL ZAHIR QADEER, 52, of Afghanistan, has been charged with narcotics importation conspiracy, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison; using and carrying machine guns and destructive devices during, and possessing machine guns and destructive devices in furtherance of, the narcotics-importation conspiracy, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison; and conspiring to use and carry machine guns and destructive devices during, and possess machine guns and destructive devices in furtherance of, the narcotics-importation conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. 

The statutory maximum and mandatory minimum penalties in this case are prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge.

Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding efforts of the DEA’s Special Operations Division Bilateral Investigations Unit.  Mr. Clayton also thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Tactical Aviation Unit, which assisted with QADEER’s extradition to the United States from Kenya; the Office of International Affairs of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division; and Kenya’s Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and Directorate of Criminal Investigations for their assistance.

The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s National Security and International Narcotics Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan L. Bodansky and Chelsea L. Scism are in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.