The feds have arrested Haji Bashir Noorzai, a reputed Afghan heroin kingpin who allegedly did business with the Taliban.

Noorzai had an ``unholy alliance'' with deposed Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, trading drugs and weapons for protection of his operation, [U.S. Attorney David] Kelley said. Last June President George W. Bush described Noorzai as a ``drug kingpin'' under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, which targets individuals who pose ``a threat to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States,'' Kelley said.

Soundbite of the day - designed to stick in a juror's mind:

John Gilbride, special agent in charge of the New York office of the DEA, called Noorzai the ``Pablo Escobar of heroin trafficking in Asia,'' referring to the former leader of Colombia's Medellin cocaine cartel. Escobar died in 1993.