<div id="subtitle">New York jury convicts ex-Afghan tribal leader of smuggling $50M worth of heroin into US</div><div><p>A former Afghan tribal leader was convicted Tuesday of smuggling $50 million worth of heroin into the United States.</p><p>Bashir Noorzai was convicted of narcotics conspiracy on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. He could face life in prison when he is sentenced Jan. 7.</p><p>The U.S. government said Noorzai was one of Afghanistan's most powerful men before the U.S. invasion in October 2001. Prosecutors said he was so influential in his homeland that he formed his own army and teamed up with the Taliban.</p><p>Defense lawyer Ivan Fisher argued that his client was a friend of the United States who offered to help Americans fight terrorism and the drug trade.</p><p>Noorzai presided over the Noorzai tribe, comprised of a million people in southern and western Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan.</p><p>After the verdict was read, Noorzai politely shook hands with Fisher and was led away.</p><p>"We are enormously disappointed by the verdict," Fisher said outside court. "It must be very difficult for an American jury to give a defendant associated with high-level members of the Taliban ... a fair trial. This jury was unable to do that."</p><p>Noorzai had conceded that he decided in 1996 to support the Taliban as a way for the country to escape chaos.</p><p>"In my view at the time, and in the view of many Afghans who were tired of the many years of violence and war, the Taliban were not corrupt and they did not steal from people and abuse their power in this way," he had said.</p><p>He said that after the 2001 terrorist attacks, he helped establish a U.S.-supported government in Afghanistan, instructing his followers to collect and store all weaponry and munitions for U.S. forces.</p><p>Several jurors outside court said the verdict was unavoidable because of evidence that proved Noorzai was part of a drug conspiracy.</p><p>"There was no other decision we could have made," said juror Monica Lopez.</p><p>Juror Martha Ramos said she felt a little prejudice arise during opening statements when a prosecutor talked about terrorism. But she added that the evidence related to the drug charges left the jury with no choice but to convict.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=33650278&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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