Ayub Afridi (drug lord) (original) (raw)

Ayub Afridi (Pashto: ایوب آفریدی; c. 1930–1939 – 24, November 2009) was a Pakistani drug smuggler and tribal politician. He is considered to be the primary founder of the widespread drug trade (particularly heroin) in Afghanistan. There are a variety of speculations that Afridi, following his close collaboration with the CIA for Operation Cyclone against the Soviet Union, was approached by the United States as a part of an effort to gain easier access to Afghanistan and the semi-autonomous tribal areas of Pakistan after 9/11.