MANHATTAN (CN) - An alleged Afghan drug trafficker accused of conspiring to finance Taliban terrorists was hit with new federal charges Tuesday. Prosecutors say that since 1999 Haji Juma Khan, 55, has led an international opium, morphine and heroin trafficking organization that sold morphine base in quantities as large as 40 tons: enough to supply the entire U.S. heroin market for two years.
Khan was charged with narco-terrorism and conspiracy to fund and finance terrorism in a superseding indictment. Khan's organization operated labs in Afghanistan that produced refined heroin and sold the drug in quantities of as much as 100 kilos, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors say Khan was closely aligned with the Taliban, whom the United States designated as a global terrorist organization since 2002.
He faces up to life in prison if convicted.
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