An Afghanistan man was sentenced to 15 1/2 years in federal prison Friday for his role in an international heroin smuggling scheme that brought the drug from Pakistan to Alexandria, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Chuck Rosenberg said.
Mohammed Munir Anwari, 54, who has been living in San Francisco, traveled from Kabul to Peshawar, Pakistan, in May 2002, and bought 1.3 kilograms of heroin, according to court records. He then returned to Kabul, hid the heroin in the lining of a suitcase and gave it to international heroin traffickers.
From there, the heroin was taken to Islamabad, then to New York and finally brought to Alexandria where it was sold. He repeated the scheme in August 2002 with 2 kilograms of heroin. The federal investigation into the drug ring has led to the indictment of eight criminals who were involved in the scheme over several years.
