Afghan tribal leader's drug smuggling trial begins

In this undated file photo, former Afghan tribal leader Bashir Noorzai is seen. Noorzai is set to go on trial Monday, Sept. 8, 2008 on charges he smuggled $50 million worth of heroin into the United States, part of a current parade of prosecutions in New York City involving reputed drug lords from abroad. (AP Photo)

NEW YORK—A former Afghan tribal leader accused of smuggling $50 million worth of heroin into the United States was so influential in his homeland that he formed his own army and teamed up with the Taliban, a prosecutor said Thursday.

Bashir Noorzai was one of Afghanistan's most powerful men before the U.S. invasion in October 2001, Assistant U.S. Attorney Anirudh Bansal said.

But defense attorney Ivan Fisher said Noorzai was a friend of the United States who offered to use his power in Afghanistan in the fight against terrorism and the drug trade.

"He put it all on the table and said, `It's yours,'" Fisher said.

In June 2004, President Bush identified Noorzai as one of the world's most wanted drug kingpins.

He was charged with conspiring to import more than $50 million worth of heroin from Afghanistan and Pakistan into the United States and other countries. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.

Noorzai presided over the Noorzai tribe, comprised of a million people in southern and western Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan.

The prosecutor said he used drug money to build his own army, police force, court system and "enough power that Bashir Noorzai became the law in western Kandahar" province.

When the Taliban came to power, the group needed his help to establish itself, Bansal said.

The prosecutor said Noorzai paid the Taliban taxes from his drug proceeds and even benefited when the Taliban banned opium cultivation in 2000 because the ban drove up heroin prices.

In September 2004, U.S. agents summoned Noorzai to Dubai and told him they wanted his help in identifying sources of money supporting terrorism.

Fisher said his client agreed to fly to New York for interviews with government officials. After 11 days of interviews, he was arrested on drug charges.