TIK AND THE TALIBAN: How a Joburg drug deal snared an alleged Afghan narco-kingpin

{JSON.stringify(article.attachments[0], null, 2)} --> South Africa features prominently in a sprawling case against a former Afghan politician, Abdul Zahir Qadeer, who allegedly had the power to get the Taliban’s cooperation, and whom the United States has accused of conspiring to traffic large quantities of drugs and military-grade weapons.

On 10 December 2024, someone opened the back door of a vehicle in a parking lot near a Johannesburg restaurant. Inside the vehicle was a black bag concealing two plastic containers, each marked with a green stamp depicting a camel, and divided between the containers was a 2kg stash of methamphetamine (known as “tik” in South Africa).

A person who had paid $14,000 (around R226,000) to someone in Afghanistan for this consignment picked it up.

What the seller probably did not know was that this seemingly basic drug deal was anything but straightforward.

United States authorities have alleged that the buyer was secretly working on its behalf, and that the drug consignment was from a former Afghan politician, Abdul Zahir Qadeer, also known as Haji Abdul Zahir.

He was once a general in Afghanistan’s Border Force and is a former member of Afghanistan’s National Assembly, the legislature there until the Taliban regained control in 2021.

𝗗𝗖𝗜 𝗘𝗫𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗗𝗜𝗧𝗘𝗦 𝗔𝗙𝗚𝗛𝗔𝗡 𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗧𝗢 𝗨.𝗦. 𝗧𝗢 𝗙𝗔𝗖𝗘 𝗡𝗔𝗥𝗖𝗢𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗦 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗚𝗘𝗦 The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), through its Anti-Narcotics Unit (ANU), has successfully extradited Afghan national Abdul… pic.twitter.com/O2bOyfUIOi

Qadeer was arrested in Nairobi, Kenya, in April 2025, where he denied the charges that the US brought against him, countering that the case was politically motivated.

But a few months ago, in July, he was extradited to the US, where he is now formally accused of conspiring to traffic drugs and weapons there (and internationally).

This case does not appear to have been reported on in South Africa until now, coinciding with the resumption of the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.

The commission is investigating whether a cartel with ties to drug traffickers has infiltrated the state, politics and private sector.

The Madlanga Commission is investigating whether a cartel, known as the Big Five, has infiltrated South Africa’s criminal justice system, political arena and private sector. Accusations about this, and the cartel’s ties to drug trafficking linked to South America, first surfaced in July 2025. The Big Five, meanwhile, is a label that has for decades been used in South Africa’s law enforcement spheres to identify top criminal suspects linked to drugs.

One focus of the commission has been on drug trafficking between South Africa and Brazil .

Meanwhile, there have also been local crackdowns on drug production facilities that suggest Mexican cartels are active in South Africa .