Karzai aide served time in U.S. prison

Izzatullah Wasifi, Afghanistan’s anti-corruption chief, served nearly four years in Nevada state prison on a conviction of selling heroin to an undercover detective, a review of criminal records found.

Wasifi, a childhood friend of President Hamid Karzai, leads a staff of 84 people charged with rooting out graft that is fueled in part by the country’s opium poppies, from which heroin is made.

Karzai’s office would not say if he knew about the 1987 arrest when the appointment was made two months ago.

Wasifi confirmed that he was imprisoned for a drug offense, but he gave an account that differed from the court records.