Burma's state-run newspaper says police have arrested 328 suspected drug dealers in an effort to crack down on rampant drug trafficking.

NATO says Afghan forces have captured a Taliban leader who was trying to flee a security operation by disguising himself in a woman's all-encompassing burqa.

NATO and Afghan forces say they have launched their largest combined offensive to date in a bid to stabilize the southern province of Helmand.

The U.S. State Department's annual report on illicit drug trade worldwide, issued Thursday, said Afghanistan's opium production hit a record high last year while there was backsliding on anti-drug efforts in Venezuela and Bolivia. Iran's counter-narcotics efforts were commended.

Africa is increasingly being used as a conduit to traffic cocaine, with increasing numbers of couriers apprehended and more bulk cocaine seized, according to the International Narcotics Control Board. The Vienna-based group released its 2006 report in Nairobi, where Cathy Majtenyi reports for VOA.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met in Kabul today with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta.

A top Venezuelan official says his country will fight drug trafficking without the help of the United States.

The United States' top military official says U.S.-backed anti-drug and counterinsurgency operations in Colombia could serve as a "good model" for the Afghan government in its battle against opium production and drug trafficking.

East Timorese Prime Minister and Nobel peace laureate Jose Ramos-Horta says he is disappointed that the United Nations Security Council failed to pass a resolution last week criticizing Burma's military-led government.