A Taliban-linked drug lord who once boasted that selling heroin to Americans was a form of jihad because it took their money and killed them has become the first man ever extradited from Afghanistan to face federal charges, authorities said Monday.

``In return, the Taliban protected Mohammad's crops, his heroin labs, his drug transportation labs and his associates,'' Tandy said.

He is accused of smuggling more than $25 million of heroin into the United States and elsewhere.

The defendant who had been arrested in Afghanistan in January arrived in the United States on Friday, authorities said.

The indictment, unsealed Monday, alleged that Mohammad and a co-defendant, identified as Bashir Ahmad Rahmany, had conspired since 1990 with others to violate narcotics laws. Rahmany is in custody and awaiting trial.

According to the indictment, Mohammad made the jihad remarks in 1990 while discussing heroin trafficking in his Karachi, Pakistan, residence.

Throughout the narcotics conspiracy that stretched to this month, the international drug ring was closely aligned with the Taliban in Afghanistan, the indictment said.

The drug organization provided financial support to the Taliban and related Islamic-extremist organizations in Afghanistan and in return received protection for its opium crops, heroin laboratories, drug transportation routes and members, it said.

Prosecutors said Mohammad and other co-conspirators on June 19, 2004, possessed approximately 120 kilograms of chemical powder, a drug ledger and written records reflecting sales of missile explosive devices, rocket shells, rocket accessories, AK-47s, pistols, bullets and other weaponry at a patrol station in the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan.

The indictment said Mohammad and Rahmany led an international heroin-trafficking organization responsible for manufacturing and transporting hundreds of kilograms of heroin in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The ``Baz Mohammad'' organization, as prosecutors called it, then arranged for the heroin to be imported into the United States and other countries in suitcases, clothing and containers and sold for tens of millions of dollars, the indictment said.

After the drugs were sold, heroin proceeds were laundered back to the drug organization in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the indictment said.

The government said Mohammad was the leader of the organization and controlled the organization's supply of heroin. Rahmany worked with other co-conspirators to distribute the heroin in the United States, it said.

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