This photo taken on Dec. 11, 2022 shows a checkpoint in Kunduz province, Afghanistan. Afghan counter-narcotics police destroyed a drug processing lab and arrested six people on charge of involvement in drug business in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province Saturday, provincial head for information and culture Matiullah Rohani said. (Photo by Aimal Kakar/Xinhua)

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Afghan counter-narcotics police destroyed a drug processing lab and arrested six people on charge of involvement in drug business in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province Saturday, provincial head for information and culture Matiullah Rohani said.

"Acting on a tip-off, the units of counter-narcotic police launched an operation in Nikpay village of Khanabad district in the wee hours of Saturday, destroying the lab and arrested six persons from the site," Ruhani told reporters here.

The police had also uncovered a huge number of materials used in manufacturing heroin from possessions of the arrested suspects, the official went on to say.

Afghan authorities have intensified crackdown on illicit drugs and those involved in the underground business as security personnel arrested 12 alleged drug smugglers in the neighboring Balkh province last week.

The supreme leader of the Taliban-run caretaker administration Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada issued a decree in April banning poppy cultivation and its processing. Since then, Afghan police have tightened fighting against illegal drugs.