Washington — Abdul Zahir Qadeer, a former general in Afghanistan's paramilitary Border Force and deputy speaker in the National Assembly, was arrested and charged with conspiring to illegally import heroin and methamphetamine into the United States, along with firearm-related offenses, according to court documents unsealed on July 10, 2026.

Qadeer faces one count of conspiracy to import narcotics and two counts of conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices in the Southern District of New York. An affidavit from a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) special agent states that Qadeer had been negotiating with a confidential source working with the DEA since November 2024.

After an initial shipment was delivered in exchange for $14,000, Qadeer continued negotiations into 2025 to sell "hundreds of kilograms" of heroin and methamphetamine. In February 2025, the informant told Qadeer they planned to buy 500 to 600 kilograms of these narcotics to sell in the United States, along with weapons.

In April 2025, Qadeer attended a meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, believing it was with the drug trafficking organization the informant claimed to represent. In reality, the meeting involved multiple DEA confidential sources.

"While purporting to be a political leader of Afghanistan, Abdul Zahir Qadeer was allegedly leading a criminal enterprise dealing in dangerous and addictive narcotics and heavy weapons," Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement.

The DEA led the investigation that ended Qadeer's alleged criminal activities. This complaint follows more than a month after the indictment of Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, an Iraqi national accused of plotting terror attacks in the U.S., including at a Jewish institution in New York.

Qadeer was previously a campaign digital reporter covering President Trump's 2024 campaign and served as an associate producer for "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."

Sources