KABUL, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Police in the fight against illegal drugs discovered 850 kg of opium poppy and arrested two drug smugglers in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province on Wednesday, said a statement of the provincial police office on Thursday.

The contraband was recovered from a car in Khanshin district, the statement said, adding police took into custody two individuals on the charge of involvement in the black business.

Both the alleged drug smugglers would be handed over to judiciary after completion of preliminary investigation, the statement went on to say.

Previously, police in similar crackdown against illegal drugs discovered more than 300 kg of illicit drugs including opium poppy and hashish in the western Badghis, Nangarhar, Kabul, Ghazni and Paktika provinces a couple of days ago.

The Afghan government has banned poppy cultivation, drug production, and trafficking. ■