(MENAFN- Pajhwok Afghan News) HERAT CITY (Pajhwok): Intelligence officials on Tuesday confiscated 25 tons of chicken meat after being smuggled into western Herat province from Iran, an official said.
The driver of the vehicle carrying the meat worth about 2.3 million afghanis has been arrested in Herat City, the provincial capital, the governor's spokesman said.
Jilani Farhad said the meat had been brought from Iran in defiance of a government ban on chicken meat from the country and without the payment of customs duty.
Poultry farms owners' association head in Herat Zia Rahman Rahmani said currently 16 poultry farms had been quarantined to prevent the spread of influenza virus in the birds.
He said the farms owners had sustained heavy losses due to the virus because the sale and purchase of chickens had dramatically dropped. He urged the government to assist the affected poultry farms owners.
Provincial and livestock director Abdul Saboor Rahmani said all birds infected with the virus would be culled soon. He said only the slaughter of chickens in open areas was banned in the city and the birds should be brought to the slaughter house.
Over the past three weeks, it has been said that the influenza has come from Iran and as a result chicken meat from the country was banned.
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