FAIZABAD, Afghanistan, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Afghan National Defense and Security Forces have launched an operation, destroying four drug laboratories in the country's northern province of Badakhshan, a military official said Monday.

The drug laboratories have been functional in the militancy-affected Argo district of the province, where, a military operation has destroyed labs in villages of Doghlak and Khawja Mawla of the district, Ghulam Hazrat Karimi, a press officer of Pamir 20 division based in the region, told Xinhua.

An armed man was also arrested by the joint contingent of security forces, the official added.

In 2017, some 9,000 tons of opium were produced in Afghanistan, a country notorious for growing opium-producing poppies for the illicit drug trade.